


Second Chances

by CSIGurlie07



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Guardiancorp, I repeat, it'll be a grab bag of characters but it'll focus mostly on these three, this is a canon compliant story, with canon amount of Lena & Kara friendship, with canon compliant GuardianCorp content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-28 23:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13914213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSIGurlie07/pseuds/CSIGurlie07
Summary: A series of episode tags and missing scenes for Season 3 of Supergirl, illustrating a more natural progression of the GuardianCorp ship. Starts with Episode 3x01 and goes from there.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing what I would have liked to see in canon to demonstrate a more natural progression for the GuardianCorp ship. I really like them together, as they seem to really like each other, but the writers have very much had to tell us "these two are a couple" without us seeing much organic development, so-- fic to the rescue. 
> 
> This will be as compliant as possible, so it'll feature Kara quite a bit too, but it will mostly showcase GuardianCorp and their shifting dynamic.

James watched Lena gather her things, conscious of the way Edge stepped predatorily behind her as she leaned forward to reach a wayward report. Lena was aware of it too, judging by the way her lips pursed just before she hefted her loaded planner into her arms. She turned to face him with her shoulders square and her chin lifted, and when Edge didn’t budge, she didn’t make any move to shove past him. She simply lifted a single eyebrow and waited.

“Come now, Miss Luthor,” Edge oozed, rocking forward with his hands in his pockets. “Surely you’re not too good for breakfast with your peers…”

Lena’s chin took on a stubborn cant, both incisive and imperious. “No need to take it personally, Morgan,” she responded lightly, eyes pinching at the corners in a forced smile. “I have another meeting to get to. Not all of us have time to play the sycophant.”

Though Edge’s sneer didn’t budge, James saw his eyes harden. Lena held her ground and her undaunted smirk, but the very air around them seemed to chill, shifting into something edging on dangerous. James cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence.

After an added beat Edge stepped back enough to present the guise of an escape, but not enough for her to slip past without forcing her to sidle between him and the chair beside him. Lena didn’t let that stop her. She powered her way through, forcing Edge another step back when she smack her shoulder against his on the way past.

As Lena rounded the end of the long conference table, James fell into step beside her. As they neared the exit, James risked one last parting jab.

“Can I interest you in breakfast, Miss Luthor?” he asked, loud enough for Edge to hear.

Lena didn’t miss a beat.

“I’d be delighted, Mr. Olsen.”

He could almost hear Edge’s teeth grinding all the way to the elevator.

* * *

On the street, James turned to Lena with a grin on his lips and a chuckle in his throat. For a brief moment, Lena’s satisfaction met his ounce for ounce.

“You surprise me, Mr. Olsen,” she said with a dazzling smile. “I didn’t expect such blatant antagonism from you. I think Cat Grant would have been proud.”

“If it’s always this gratifying, I can see why it’s part of her arsenal.” It was a shame looking back would have ruined their casual exit. James would have loved to see the look on Edge’s face.

Lena’s smile turned devilish. “I caught his reflection in the glass on my way out, and while I’m sure we’ll be answering for that stunt sooner rather than later, I’d say it was definitely worth it.”

A black town car pulled to the curb, and James opened the car door. He looked at her expectantly, and watched her put the pieces together slowly.

“Oh. You-- you were serious?”

James stared at her. “Yes… Is that a surprise?”

This time, he was the one on the receiving end of that arch brow, and James immediately decided he did not enjoy it.

“Well, yes,” Lena replied bluntly. “After the headline CatCo printed of my arrest last year, I'm surprised you'd be so eager to be seen in public with a Luthor.”

“We also printed a cover about your innocence,” James reminded her, instinctively squaring his shoulders. His smile went cold, and he strained to keep it on his face. “I’m sure you saw it.”

Lena’s own smile tightened, and the warmth slowly drained from her gaze. “I did. It remains the closest CatCo's ever come to printing a retraction… and I’d be flattered, except that it would have been completely unnecessary if you’d waited to run your headline until the ink was dry on my arrest warrant.”

“That’s journalism--”

“Sensationalism.”

James grit his teeth, and tightened his grip on the door frame. “You know what? I forgot, I actually have conference call, in-- oh!” He glanced at his watch. “Right now.”

“Of course,” came her response, smooth as ever. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon, if Morgan Edge has anything to say about it.”

James nodded and restored his own smile. “I look forward to it.”

He wasn’t entirely sure he meant that, but Lena wasn’t bothered. She was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode tag for 3x02, picking up directly where the episode left off.

Miss Luthor’s first day started with the ominous ding of the executive elevator, and didn’t end well past midnight. As soon as she disappeared, James dismissed Eve for the night and waited to ensure she’d left before retreating to his office. Feeling the burden of the day lift from his shoulders, James revelled in the silence. He breathed in deeply.

“Mr. Olsen.”

Choking on his lungful of air, James coughed and straightened in his seat. He faced Lena Luthor standing in his doorway, and where he might have expected to find her smirking at having caught him unawares, he instead found her gaze piercing and intense.

“Miss Luthor.” He kept his tone carefully neutral, just edging on congenial. “Did you forget something?”

“In fact I did,” she confirmed, stepping further into the room. The warm light illuminated her features, softening the hard edge of her jaw and throwing sparkles to dance in her eyes as she neared. “In all the departmental meetings of my first day, I realized there’s one person I overlooked.”

She settled in the chair across from him, tucking her purse next to her hip. James could feel the difference in her posture, her tone. Gone was the guarded professionalism, the aloof afterthought he’d been battling all day. Her gaze met his and stayed there, now lacking the unspoken confrontation he'd walked in on that morning.

 _This_ was what it was to have all of Lena Luthor’s attention, and James felt his spine straighten to meet this new expectation.

“I’ve been here all day,” he pointed out, spreading his hands demonstratively.

Oh, he was dancing a thin line, and he knew it. Part of his recklessness was exhaustion after a taxing day, but even more so the result of being snubbed more than once in a transition he would have been happy to spearhead. To James' surprise, his new boss didn’t seem to mind.

“Yes,” Lena agreed, the corners of her eyes crinkling in something nearing a smile. “The fault is mine. I treated today as I would any other high-profile merger. In that sense there was no purpose in devoting time to the person I’m here to phase out.”

James’ stomach plummeted. So that was it. Briefly, he considered the possibility of returning to the art department, but dismissed the notion just as quickly. Even if he was willing to displace the person who had taken his old role, any savvy executive wouldn’t run the risk of divided loyalties.

“But this isn’t a merger,” she continued, folding her hands atop her knee, “and I shouldn’t have treated it as one. And I apologize for that.”

James blinked. What?

“Please don’t misunderstand,” Lena elaborated, “my acquisition of this company isn’t a whim, nor is it a mercy. If Morgan Edge had gotten his hands on CatCo he would have used it to smear my name and that of anyone else who dared stand in his way. But while this move may have been a necessity of survival, I intend to make it a lucrative one, and in so doing maintain the integrity of what Cat Grant created.”

Warmth bloomed in James’ chest at the mention of Cat, who too often felt forgotten since her first departure for sabbatical the year before. He relaxed, marginally, allowing his elbows to rest on his knees. “It sounds like you already have a game plan.”

“I intend to learn everything there is to know about CatCo’s business,” she informed him, “and until I get up to speed I would like you to continue in your current role managing the daily activity. In the meantime, CatCo will not print any further articles about myself or L-Corp until the public is confident that they can still trust CatCo to be objective and impartial.”

James rubbed his palms together. Okay. He could live with that. Until…

“And what happens when you’re up to speed?” he asked. “Knowing your reputation, I can’t imagine it’ll take long.”

“I admit I tend to take a hands on approach, and I intend to become involved with CatCo as Miss Grant did,” she confessed, “but I don’t plan to turn you out on your ear. Nor do I want to butt heads with you. I’d like this to be a partnership. I value expertise and I want you to help me make CatCo great.”

“CatCo is already pretty great,” James pointed out.

Red lips curled into a smile. “I agree, Mr. Olsen. So you see the challenge ahead of us.”

 _Us_. Oh, she was good.

“I don’t see where I have much choice in this, Miss Luthor.”

“There is always a choice. If you don’t find my proposal agreeable, you’re free to walk out the door and not look back.” Green eyes examined him carefully, glinting in the low light. The sharp intelligence there didn’t surprise him, but to be honest, the soft mirth did. Her eyebrow then lifted expectantly.

“But should you decide to work with me,” Lena continued, “it will require open communication and a certain degree of trust. Do you think you can find it possible to spare a Luthor that much?”

James did have a choice, but his options were limited. He could leave, but CatCo was his home, National City was his home. He had no desire to go elsewhere, and no desire to let the company embark in its new direction alone.

“You’re asking for trust and respect,” James said carefully, “but I didn’t feel like I got either from you today.”

Lena nodded, having the decency to look somewhat chagrined. “I know,” she said, accepting fault with more grace than James would have, “and I give you my word that won’t happen again.”

And there came that expectation of trust again. James didn’t just give his trust away. He couldn’t afford to be naive, or expect to be treated fairly-- not in any job. But in the same breath… Lena wasn’t quite asking for that, was she? Despite their rough start, she had come back to level with him, and afford him the respect he’d expected all day.

Nor was she asking the miraculous. In none of the pep talks James attended with her did Lena hint at making any huge changes. Everyone had waited on edge for clues that she was thinking of downsizing, or _reorganization._ Instead, James got the sense she intended to refine their product, and to that end, James couldn’t deny he was a little curious to see what she had in mind.

“Well, then,” he said, measuring his words with careful consideration, “I think I look forward to working with you.”

He offered a smile that wasn’t quite as forced as he thought it would be. He pushed to his deet, and Lena rose as well.

“I’m glad to hear it,” she said warmly. When she extended her hand, James took it with a firm shake, unsurprised to find her grip firm, but unchallenging. She reached behind her to retrieve her bag. “Would you mind coming in a few minutes early tomorrow? I’d like to review what your week typically looks like, and see where I can sit in without disrupting things too much.”

James nodded. “Sure. I’ll be in early for an overseas call already. Six thirty work for you?”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll see you then.” This time when Lena turned to leave, she didn’t seem quite as distant as she had with Eve in tow. For the first time it felt like they were finally in the same room. “Have a good night, Mr. Olsen.”

“You too, Miss Luthor.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set somewhere in 3x03-- either as a missing scene or a tag.

Lena Luthor consistently surprised James.

Like the way she sat in on conference calls, silent save for the scratching of pen on paper as she took notes until the call ended and she peppered him with sharp questions he mostly knew the answer to.   
  
Or when he saw her ask Eve a favor. An actual favor, not just an order disguised as a casual suggestion. 

"When you have time, would you mind getting me the minutes for the last three years' board meetings?" He heard Lena ask, her voice low. "It's absolutely not urgent, just when you get a moment?"   
  
Asked like that, James could hardly blame Eve for dropping everything and getting the minutes to her within the hour. 

Or the night he came in late after an uneventful Guardian run, itching to take out some of his restless energy on a pile of paperwork. He found Lena seated out on the balcony with a cordless lamp and a sea of papers spread out in front of her, weighted down in piles under various objects she'd found around the office-- his collectors baseball, a pencil cup, and most oddly, tumblers filled with chocolate candy.   
  
With her hair down, there was something utterly human in the way Lena blindly reached for one of the cups, snagging a couple pieces of candy. He knocked on the open terrace door to avoid startling her, but the sound made her jump anyway.    
  
The smile that greeted James upon recognition eased some of the tension in his shoulders. He crossed to join her.     
  
"I have to say," Lena said lightly, voice carrying in the breeze, "Cat Grant has excellent taste. In both views and chocolate."   
  
"What, you're telling me L-Corp's executive suite doesn't have a bucket of chocolate hidden on its drink cart?" James eased himself down onto the cushion next to her.   
  
"It will now," Lena countered, smirking. "Here I was, using it to store ice, like a chump."   
  
Her laugh lilted on the night breeze, soft and open. Leaning forward, she consolidated two piles to free up one glass, which she took with her as she reclined into the pillows behind her. She tilted the glass towards James, eyebrows lifting in invitation. He hesitated, then reached over to scoop out a handful of treats. They munched together in silence, gazing out across the city.   
  
"What has you here so late?" James asked finally.    
  
"Going over the minutes. And my notes. And the notes of my notes." She gestured vaguely towards one end of the table where a notepad sat, packed with dense lines of flowing script. "Those are the questions I plan to ask you tomorrow."   
  
"You could ask me now."   
  
Lena waved him off, reaching back into the cup and plucking out a green piece. "There's no need to waste anyone else's night."   
  
James shrugged. "It's not a waste if I'm offering."   
  
Lena regarded him for a long moment, before popping the green candy in her mouth and reaching over to snag the pad off the table. As she flipped through, James tried not to be impressed by the level of detail he spotted in pieces-- the name of an old acquisition he'd not given a second thought to, a conflict of interest with a board member who had retired not long after audit spotted the contention... it went on and on, but to his surprise, Lena closed the pad once more and set it down in her lap.   
  
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked in a low voice. Her fingers smoothed over the pressed pages of her pad.   
  
James watched her. "I think that was the plan..."   
  
"No, I mean... I find myself in a difficult position. About Kara."   
  
Lifting his chin, James carefully worked to keep his expression unchanged. This was not a conversation he'd expected to have tonight.   
  
"She's been more alert in recent weeks,” Lena explained, “and she’s gotten better at showing up for staff meetings, but she's still sporadically absent. No one seems to know where she disappears to, she's chronically late, leaves early... no one seems to bat an eye, which tells me it's been going on for some time and yet there's not a single reprimand in her file."   
  
James waited, hesitant to say anything until he knew exactly where she was going with it. 

"I hesitate to address it if it's just part of her grieving, but ignoring it could open us up to accusations of favoritism, which will only reflect poorly on her career."   
  
James nodded. Okay. This, he could do-- if he tread carefully.    
  
"I had the same concerns you did when I was promoted," James fibbed, sanding the edges of the truth. "I worried that my friendship with her would mean I’d have to be stricter with her, to preempt any assumptions of favoritism. But in the end, I just gave Kara the same trust that Cat did, and so far that trust has paid off."   
  
"And your other employees don't chafe under the knowledge they're not afforded the same trust?"   
  
James lifted one shoulder. "In a way, they are. We trust them to be on time and put in a full day's work. If a supervisor feels that policy is being abused, they can discuss it and see what's going on. Sometimes it's a sick kid, sometimes it's anxiety or depression. And sometimes, it's just following a hunch."   
  
Watching Lena, James could tell she wasn't entirely convinced. Having worked with her this long, and seeing the easy way she treated her employees with respect, he sincerely doubted she was a slave driver at L-Corp, which meant the problem wasn't with CatCo's policy, or even the choice James had made in regards to Kara-- it was Kara herself, and what her absences truly meant.   
  
James wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole.   
  
"Kara does check in with me when she’s chasing a lead, if she can. If you want, I can have her notify you instead--"   
  
"No," Lena returned quickly. "No, let's not change anything. I trust your judgement."   
  
Warmth spread unexpectedly through James’ chest. He smiled, and for the first time it wasn’t forced or calculated. It was a grin, and with it came a new sense of ease that only strengthened when Lena smiled back.

"Okay, then,” he agreed. “Anything else you wanted to ask?"   
  
Lena blinked, refocusing on the pad in front of her. "Right, of course."    
  
This time, she flipped to the exact page she wanted and immediately launched into it. "I wanted to discuss Mr. Bainbridge. He was on the board when CatCo acquired the Tannen Paper company to supply the southeast distribution center. I met Mr. Bainbridge at a charity gala a few years ago, and I remember he mentioned having recently purchased stock in Tannen..."   
  
They worked until the first lightening of the morning sky, shocking James with the lateness of the hour and how much energy he still had. As Lena gathered her array of piles, James shot her another grin.   
  
"Can I interest you in breakfast, Miss Luthor?"   
  
Green eyes glimmered in the dawning light. They studied him, and James had to fight to keep from fidgeting under her gaze. Slowly, she smiled. “To make up for the morning of Edge’s pitch?”

“Maybe.” 

The moment James learned that CatCo would be in the hands of a Luthor, he never thought he’d be okay with it. When Lena promised to be at CatCo for the foreseeable future, he anticipated each day would bring a fresh battle, a constant stream of struggle and dissent, and yet-- he’d enjoyed himself, and the evening.

Not only that, James found himself wanting to know more about his new boss. He felt reluctant to quit her company even after their long night. Perhaps that's how the Luthors won people over-- with all-nighters and chocolate candies in a scotch glass.

James tucked his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels with a shrug. “How about it?"   
  
Somehow, Lena’s smile warmed even further. "If there's a Noonan's sticky bun in it for me, I'm all yours."   
  
James laughed. "Ah.. now I see why Kara likes you so much. You speak her language."

“Oh god, not fluently,” Lena grimaced. “I mean, what does that girl have against kale? It's good for you!”

“You should see the faces she makes when I bring in my wheatgrass shakes…”

Talking about Kara was easy, and the easiness continued over breakfast as conversation eventually turned to Metropolis. For the first time since Lucy left, James could speak with someone who missed the restaurants he did, and knew the parks he used to photograph. He enjoyed himself, and he enjoyed the way Lena was quick to laugh.

More and more, she was nothing like James assumed she'd be. 

“We still have a few hours before that call with London,” James said as they re-emerged from Noonan's. Just enough time to freshen up, change clothes, maybe even catch a power nap.

“I have to say, Lena,” he continued, “I had my doubts when word came down about the merger. But I'm glad I was wrong. I enjoyed the night, even if it was spent at the office.”

“Likewise.”

Lena smiled up at him, only looking away when her phone started to buzz in her hand. She glanced at the screen and laughed at the name that popped up on the screen. 

“Think her ears were burning?”

“More like she smelled the sticky buns,” James replied. “Catch you at the office.”

Lena nodded, already lifting the phone to her ear. “Hey,” Lena greeted. “Yes, I'm already outside-- what? No, I didn't spend the entire night at the office… Okay, fine, I did, but Kara, you do realize I now run _two_ multi-billion dollar companies, right? That's billion with a b...”

James watched her go, listening to the dwindling sound of Lena's half of the conversation. As he turned back towards CatCo, he caught sight of his reflection in the storefront, and the smile still curling his lips. It continued to play on his features as he walked. 

Maybe they were going to be okay after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after episode 3x04.

James really shouldn’t have been surprised that Lena was an riser, but when he walked into Noonan’s within minutes of them opening, he still felt a jolt of shock at the sight of Lena already there, receiving her change at the till. She had her phone wedged between her ear and shoulder, which she expertly shifted back to one hand once she’d put her wallet away.

Without looking back to see who had come to join her at the same ungodly hour, Lena stepped aside to let him order. As he passed, James caught the rhythmic cadence of rapid Spanish, made sensual by the intensity of her voice, for all that she kept her volume low in deference to the public space.

To his surprise, she peeled off towards a table in lieu of waiting for a to-go order. From the corner of his eye he watched her settle into a seat that likely hadn’t touched a coat as expensive as hers in its life. As she eased off the strap of her bag and crossed her ankles, her free hand started gesturing in the air, illustrating her point for an absent audience.

From what little he could gather, the call was less a hard-hitting negotiation, and more an exchange of information. The animation that lit up her features was far different from anything he’d seen from her at CatCo. He could hardly keep her eyes off her as he ordered. On a whim, he ordered his coffee as a sit-in as well. He didn’t intend to make conversation, absolutely not. But Lena finished her call just as he passed her table to fix his morning dose of cream and sugar, and her features brightened at the sight of him.

“Mr. Olsen!” Her smile was infectious, and James felt his lips curl upwards in reciprocation. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” he returned. He gestured to the phone she’d placed face-up on the table. “No rest for the weary?”

“Our overseas subsidiaries try to respect the time zones, but I make concessions when I can. And unfortunately I’m an early riser.”

“And a night owl, too,” James needled with a smile. “I remember.”

He lifted an eyebrow towards the empty seat at her table in wordless query, and Lena’s shrugged back a warm invitation.

“Did Kara brief you on the cult story we want to run?” he asked as he settled opposite her.

Lena nodded over the rim of her cup. “She did. I’m still in need of the finer details, but I already have an idea on what direction CatCo should run the narrative.”

James settled into his chair, bristling slightly. He didn’t like the overstep, if it could even be called that, but so far Lena had shown keen insight into what kind of stories were important. He nodded. “Okay.”

“As far as cult leaders go, Coville cuts a less than impressive figure.” Her features soured with distaste. “He’s a middle-aged white man who fixated on the young woman who saved his life, and then proceeded to twist the experience for his own personal ego boost. He is utterly unremarkable, but he is all every other news outlet is going to focus on… rehashing every mundane detail of his mediocre life.”

James drew back, surprised by the disdain dripping from her voice. Oh, he’d heard the disaffected courtesy she used with strangers, and the cold derision reserved solely for Morgan Edge, but this was new.

“And you want to go another way,” he prompted.

Lena nodded. “I’d rather find a way to focus on the people who flocked to him. Their readiness to ascribe to his half-baked religion is a symptom of societal malcontent, and I think we could work that angle. Or, alternatively, I’d like to focus on why they found such meaning in being rescued by Supergirl, and highlight the positive impact Supergirl makes on an individual basis.”

The bell over the cafe door dinged as another customer entered. James watched Lena turn a sharp eye towards the sound, giving them a brief scan before returning her gaze to him. Her fingers curled around the circumference of her mug, warming them against the pale ceramic.

“You could be on to something,” he conceded, sensing that wasn’t all she had in the chamber. He was right.

“And if that’s the direction we choose,” she continued, “I’d like you to assign some people to look into other survivors Supergirl has rescued-- if there are any who paid her kindness forward by doing actual good rather than forming a cult, I’d like CatCo to showcase their efforts.”

“I _really_ like that angle,” James confirmed. He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table. “I think we can track down quite a few even in the next few days.”

Lena’s eyes flickered to her coffee, then back up, unexpectedly hesitant. “And there was something else...”

That sounded ominous. “Yeah?”

“I’d like to extend an invitation to Supergirl to weigh in. Not on what happened, exactly,” she hedged, lifting one hand against the instant hesitation that jumped up James’ throat, “but Coville was preaching some twisted version of her religion-- a religion no one else on Earth knows anything about. If she’d like to sit down with us, and share what her religion, and her god, mean to her, I want CatCo to afford her the opportunity.”

James stared at her, his breath caught between his ribs. Kara had never shared much about Krypton, or what she still held close to her heart. He had no idea whether she’d ever been religious, or just as casual an observer as he was. Aside from invoking Rao’s name, she’d never hinted at anything that hinted she was any more observant of her faith than he was of his. He’d never asked.

James nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he agreded. “I mean, I don’t know if she’ll accept, but extending the invite is definitely a good idea.” He sat back in his chair, regarding her curiously. “You have a head for this.”

“You sound surprised,” Lena teased.

“I am. No offense--” he amended. “You just didn’t seem to have much experience in journalism. I’m glad though-- I wasn’t looking forward to shooting down my boss this early in the morning.”

Ruby lips tilted upwards in a wry smirk. “I have many skills.”

She sipped her coffee as James chuckled, giving his own mug a swirl. They sat in silence, as Noonan’s slowly came to life around them. Finally, Lena set her cup aside, and reclaimed her phone. Her legs uncrossed, and James expected her to rise, but she lingered, tapping her phone against her palm.

“Journalism is as much a business as anything else,” she said.

James looked at her. “I don’t follow.”

“Business is about identifying a need and fulfilling it. In journalism, it’s about printing the stories that need to be told.”

She smiled, the expression soft and edging on vulnerable. Before James could respond, Lena finally did stand, tucking her phone in her pocket.

“CatCo has a responsibility to print the stories that truly matter, Mr. Olsen. I want us to run news that means something, that _helps_ people. And that’s all I want, despite what anyone else assumes about me.”

This time, the gaze that studied him glimmered with hesitation, hovering between distrust and uncertainty. In that moment, James realized that as wary as he’d been of her intentions, Lena was equally wary of his. The next minute could make or break the newfound equilibrium they’d created, and this time, James couldn’t find an ounce of suspicion in him.

“I believe you,” James told her, nodding as he rose. As her eyes lifted to follow him, her features softened. “CatCo’s lucky to have you.”

A faint flush lifted to Lena’s cheeks, and she ducked her chin.

“I have a meeting with Sam at L-Corp this morning,” she said. “I should be back in time for the layout meeting at nine.”

James nodded. “Looking forward to it.”

He watched her go, her heels clicking softly across the floor as she gracefully navigated through the stream of people now filling Noonan’s. Her coat was a spot of color in a sea of gray and black, striking in the way she held herself, the way she moved. As Lena passed out of sight, someone coughed behind him. James shook himself out of his stupor.

He moved on, making room for the next customer. Outside, he scanned the street for her, but the sea of people had swallowed her completely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picks up immediately where 3x05 leaves off.

James watched Lena go, his smile lingering. The elevator dinged, followed shortly by the sound of the doors opening and closing, leaving him in the quiet one could only find in an office after hours. In the stillness, James realized that he and Lena truly had found a new equilibrium. Without the need to butt heads, now that James had room to operate without tripping over Lena, James was glad for the understanding blossoming between them. He _ wanted _ to like Lena. 

God help him, he wanted her approval, her praise-- he wanted to work more closely with her, and earn more of that soft smile she’d given him just now. The one that made his chest warm with… not quite pride, or satisfaction, but something more intimate that James didn’t want to examine too closely. Not yet.

The strange, tantalizing warmth was still with him when Kara called, hours later.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“Just checking in,” Kara chirped, her voice thin against the rush of wind. “I saw your light on.”

James smiled. “I’m good. Better than good, actually.”

“And why’s that?”

“Oh. Ah…” James suddenly felt awkward at the thought of sharing his thoughts and that strange feeling still filling his chest. “Just-- Lena came by, and I think--”

“Lena what?”

James paused. “She stopped by the office a few hours ago--”

A sound of displeasure came over the line. “Of course she did.”

“Why, what happened?”

Kara told him everything, about the unauthorized flight towards the reservoir and Lena’s garbled SOS, and the near miss.

“And now she’s at L-Corp!” Kara exclaimed, incredulous. “I can’t believe--”

She cut off abruptly, the same way her cousin did when he heard trouble. James smirked, rising from his chair. “Go do you,” he urged. “I’ll swing by L-Corp.”

“Thanks. Just-- don’t let her drive. She won't admit it, but she knocked her head pretty hard.”

* * *

To his surprise, James’ name was already on the list of approved visitors when he got to L-Corp. The security guard gave him a badge and directed him towards the elevator. At the top, he stepped into a quiet executive suite. The corridor wasn’t cramped by any stretch, but after CatCo’s open bullpen, the soft white walls immediately instilled a sense of sophistication. It felt more professional, somehow, as he wandered past an empty assistant’s desk and around the corner, towards the tall, open doors to Lena’s office. 

Inside, Lena sat at her desk still in her messy ponytail (which James now knew was literally windswept) and expensively casual outfit, breaking the elegant ambience ever so slightly. He knocked gently on the open door, drawing Lena’s tired gaze to him.

“Mr. Olsen,” she greeted. “It’s a little early for a morning visit…”

“Or late,” he countered lightly, stepping into the room. “And Lena, please-- it’s James.”

“Right. Sorry.” Her brow furrowed, but she quickly hid it with a thin smile. “Was there something you needed?” 

“Supergirl stopped by, and she mentioned what happened tonight--”

Lena’s eyes pressed shut. “Please,” she said softly. “Don’t print anything about my involvement.”

“We can discuss that later if you want,” James continued, “but I’m more concerned about you. Supergirl seemed a little alarmed you were still working.”

A wry smile flashed briefly. “You of all people should appreciate that some business doesn’t wait for anything-- not even a concussion.”

“It does, actually... if you let it.” 

Their eyes caught, and held for a long moment. The silence suddenly felt charged, but Lena chose silence as her weapon. She turned back to her task, whatever it was, and as she peered at the papers in front of her James took in the weariness that clung to her, and the way her eyes pinched at the corners.

“You look tired.” 

Lena visibly bristled, but soon her shoulders slumped, relinquishing the fight before it could start. 

“I am,” she confessed with a sigh, her voice thin. “I’m almost finished. Then I’ll go home.”

James nodded. “Okay. I kind of promised Supergirl I’d see you home. Mind if I stick around?”

One shoulder lifted. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint Supergirl, would we?”

James took a seat in one of the empty visitors chairs and watched as Lena resumed her work. For all she seemed exhausted, Lena looked completely at ease in this room. She fit behind the desk like it was built for her-- maybe it had been. She moved effortlessly, reaching for papers and pens and files almost without looking. Here, her fashion wouldn’t be at all out of place, whereas her designer wardrobes set her apart from the CatCo business casual dress code. The difference was striking.

“This place suits you,” James commented. Green eyes glanced briefly at him, then slid back to her report. “Do you mind if I ask… why CatCo?”

“Well, if you’d  _ rather _ have Morgan Edge as your boss…”

“God, no. But that’s not what-- I mean, you have passed CatCo over to anyone. You could have had Sam take CatCo, or left it with me, and you could have stayed here.”

Lena rolled her pen between her fingers, shoulders tense and eyes downcast. 

“I guess I’m just wondering why you would step away from a company that seems to be your home.”

She didn’t answer right away. James let the quiet linger, giving her time to gather her thoughts, and decide what she wanted to share with him.

“The invasion was my fault,” she said finally.

“So, CatCo is penance?”

“L-Corp is in the business of bleeding edge technology. I hired Sam because I didn’t trust myself to be the only person at the top-- I needed another perspective as a buffer… one who isn’t so desperate to do good that they’ll overlook countless red flags to do it.”

James eyed her. “And you think you did? Overlook red flags?”

Dark eyebrows shrugged. “Twenty years with the most deceptive family on Earth, and Rhea snowed me with a few kind words and the prospect of saving the world.”

Lena shook herself, blinking away her candor. “I don’t know why I told you that.”

She reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, reminding James why he was there in the first place.  “How’s the head?” he asked. 

Lena didn’t move. 

“Like an anvil dropped on it.”

When she still didn’t move, James tried again. “You’re sure nothing here can’t wait until morning?”

Lena held out for one more long moment. Then, she sighed. “I suppose it can.”

“Great.” James stood, and waited patiently as Lena slowly gathered her keys. When she was ready, they walked out together. As they passed through the lobby and out onto the street, Lena cast a glance at the sling on his arm.

“You got that checked out by a real doctor, right? Not just the paramedics?”

James nodded, thumbing the beeper on his keyring to unlock his car. “I did. The bullet didn’t penetrate far.”

“Good to know all that muscle is good for something.”

James paused halfway through opening the door for her, and looked at her with a smile playing on his lips. Lena blinked, suddenly seeming to realize what exactly she’d said.

“I don’t know why I said that!” she said, breaking into a nervous laugh. James chuckled, watching as she lifted her hands. “I’m sorry, I-- I’m just going to stop talking.”

James leaned on the open passenger door, grinning all the while. “You should get concussed more often. It’s good for my ego.”

“I’ll get right on that,” she quipped, climbing in. James closed the door behind her, and only barely managed to wipe the pleased grin from his face by the time he got behind the wheel. 

They drove in comfortable silence, broken only by Lena’s brief directions to her apartment building. From the corner of his eye James saw her fingers twisting gently in her lap.

When he pulled to a stop in front of the building she indicated, Lena turned to him.

“I wanted to apologize,” she said. Light spilled in through the car window, lending her silhouette an ethereal glow. “For snapping at you the other day.”

James shook his head. “Hey, look, I get it. You were stressed--”

“No.” Lena paused. “I mean, I was, yes, but that wasn’t why I snapped.”

An unexpected lump crawled up James’ throat. “Then why did you?”

“So far, Kara is the only friend who hasn’t turned on me the public suspected me of something nefarious.” Lena lifted one shoulder helplessly. “When you came into the office, I was certain it was the moment I would lose all the respect I thought I had earned from you-- all the trust. So  I tried to beat you to the punch.”

Oh. James swallowed. “That sounds pretty rational, actually--”

“Please don’t make excuses for me. I assumed the worst about you, and you did absolutely nothing to earn it. I’m sorry.”

James mouth fell open, but no sound came out.

“It’s just--” Lena continued, pausing awkwardly to find the words she wanted to say. “Every time it does happen, it takes a little more out of me. Especially when it comes from people I care about, and so I tend to keep people at arm’s length. Something I’m not so great at.”

Quiet fell between them, and James watched Lena’s features warm into a smile.

“So the reason I jumped down your throat is… I think I’m starting to like you, James Olsen.”

Suddenly, James found himself unable to look away, until Lena straightened, and started to turn towards the door. She paused, fingers on the door handle, and turned back. “And thank you. For saving my life.”

James blinked. “Ah-- you’re welcome.”

“Good night. James.” 

“‘Night.”

The door closed behind her with a soft thud, and he watched until Lena disappeared safely inside the building. As he drove home, his mind tripped and tumbled over her words. 

_ I think I’m starting to like you. _

She was concussed. Her judgement was impaired-- he couldn’t take anything Lena said without a grain of salt. 

But James didn’t sense a grain of salt. He didn’t sense anything at all but sincerity. That, and the same indescribable sensation that had first sparked earlier that evening. The spark that now burned low and pleasant in the center of his chest.

At the press conference, James had reacted on instinct when he heard the first gunshot. But it was more than that too. He’d been on guard the moment the bereaved father had stormed into CatCo. And if he chased that vigilance deep enough, James knew it would lead him back to the warmth in his chest. More than just right and wrong, more than just victim and aggressor, James had been guarding Lena because he’d known the world wasn’t ready to lose to Lena Luthor...

And neither was he.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during 3x06 "Midvale"

Lena woke with a pounding headache and a sinking suspicion she’d done something incredibly stupid. Aspirin helped with the first, but without knowing whether the second was the result of her boneheaded move to confront Edge, getting herself knocked out, or something that had happened in the foggy portion of her memory after she’d said goodbye to Supergirl the night before… Lena found herself at a loss.

So she soldiered on, feeling more like her college days than she cared to admit, and muddled through her day. Her energy flagged at midday, and by two o’clock she wanted to curl under a desk, any desk, and die a little. Instead she propped herself up at Kara’s empty desk and attempted to work. She’d been trying to read the same single-page report for the past twenty minutes when James Olsen finally found her.

“You can go home, you know,” he offered. The sound of his voice broke through Lena’s misery, pulling her attention up to the warm smile looking back at her.

“And miss the layout meeting at three?” she retorted, mustering more energy than she felt. “Not a chance.”

Layouts was easily one of the best parts about journalism’s production schedule. There was something pleasing about finding the right way to fit together the constituent puzzle pieces of a magazine, balancing ads with editorials and blending them together into a single finished product. Lena wouldn’t miss it for the world.

To her surprise, James only grinned wider. “Thought you might say that.” He tilted his head towards his office. “C’mon, I have the next best thing.”

Lena followed, more out of intrigue than anything else. She took the seat he gestured to on the couch and settled in, crossing her ankles and clasping her portfolio atop her knees as James plopped a paper bag in front of her.

The bag itself was already semi-saturated with grease when he started unloading the napkins that had been packed in at the top. Next came two large styrofoam cups, followed by a large cardboard boat of Noonan’s distinctive curly fries.

The smell immediately set Lena’s mouth to watering. She’d eaten lunch already, and wasn’t hungry by any stretch, but her stomach nearly growled at the sight of the crisp, golden spirals of potato.

“Curly fries?” she asked, to distract herself from the tantalizing aroma. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.” James grimaced, still smiling. “Maybe literally. ‘Cause not just curly fries…” He removed the top from one of the styrofoam tubs, revealing a vat of molten cheese. “Curly fries _and_ cheese sauce.”

Lillian would have murdered her if she’d even thought about eating liquid cheese product as a kid. Now that Lillian has _actually_ tried to kill her, Lena figured it wouldn’t make much of a difference what she ate. She pulled one fry from the nest of coiled starch, and munched on one end as she eyed the cheese.

_What the hell._

Lena dipped the un-nibbled edge of her fry into the cheese, and scooped a generous glob of fake cheese into her mouth. Her eyes closed of their own accord, savoring the blend of texture and taste that filled her mouth and dulled the pounding headache behind her eyes.

“That--” Lena opened her mouth, and reached for another fry. “That’s really good.”

“A concussion isn’t the same as a hangover, but I figured comfort food couldn’t hurt.” James uncapped his own cup of cheese and plucked his own fry from the tray. “It’s completely not scientifically proven, but I have it on good authority that this is the best cure for any kind of headache.”

Lena lifted another cheese soaked fry to her mouth. “I’m not disputing it.” Jesus. Who knew junk food could make her feel so much better. This must be how Kara felt about potstickers. If it was, Lena now understood her devotion. “Thank you. I don’t know how, but this is apparently exactly what I needed.”

“Any time.” James met her gaze and held it. His smile grew, warming his eyes and sparking a flutter in Lena’s stomach that had nothing to do with the greasy potatoes she was shoveling into it. “And here-- for the finishing touch…”

He reached to the far end table and came back with two milkshakes, both chocolate.

“One more trust exercise,” he said, offering one to her with an expectant lift of his eyebrow.

Lena accepted the chilly beverage without hesitation, and tried not to notice that her fingers brushed his in the transfer. The blended ice cream made her squint at the cold, but the sweetness bloomed in her mouth to perfectly balance the salt and grease of the fries. It was rich and creamy, thick without having to work at every sip.

“Thank you.” Lena reached for another fry. “I hope you didn’t learn this combo from actually coming in hungover,” she teased.

James smiled. “No. But I’ve found it works for any bad ache or pain.” He shrugged, swirling a generous pinch of fries through molten cheese. “Comfort food is comfort food.”

Lena didn’t dare dispute the power of this kind of comfort food. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Kara.”

“Don’t tell Kara what?”

Lena jerked at the sound of Kara herself entering the room. She shot to her feet, milkshake in hand, and nervously smoothed her skirt like she’d been caught cheating on a math test. “Kara!” she chirped. “You’re back!”

“Yeah, Alex got called into work, so I figured I’d come in too.” Blue eyes studied Lena, sharp behind fidgeting glasses. “I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“No!” Lena said, too quickly. She waved the suspicion away with her free hand. “Not at all. We were just--”

What were they doing?

“Indulging in some corporate junk food,” James covered, also rising to his feet. “After everything that happened with Edge, I figured we’d earned it.”

Swallowing thickly, Lena nodded. “Right.”

Kara’s gaze bounced between them, then to the food still spread out between them. When she changed the subject, Lena couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “O-kay… Well, I just wanted to let you know I was here. Layout meeting at three?”

James and Lena nodded in unison.

“Sure is...”

“We’ll see you there,” Lena added.

Kara left the room with one last look between them, and that feeling Lena had that morning was back in full force-- the one that told her she had done something incredibly stupid.

Lena nearly jumped when James’ hand gently touched her elbow. “I need to go visit Emeril in Marketing real quick before the meeting. Care to finish the rest of these for me?”

Grateful for the offered solitude-- and the opportunity to sneak just a few more fries-- Lena nodded readily. “I’ll do my best.” She smiled politely. “Thank you again.”

“Any time.”

When James pulled away, his fingers trailed briefly along her arm. Or did Lena imagine it? James’ gaze lingered as he took his leave, but even then Lena couldn’t quite determine if there was anything to it before she was alone in the office, with nothing but her confusion and a melting milkshake to keep her company.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set sometime during/around 3x07 "Wake Up"

Lena woke up an hour late with sleep crusted in her eyes and one arm entirely numb from her awkward slump over her home office desk. When she blearily blinked at the clock, the time sent a jolt of adrenaline down her spine, bolting her from her chair and scrambling for her bathroom. In a record fifteen minutes she was out the door with a singular destination in mind.

When she walked into Noonan’s only twenty minutes past her usual time, Lena couldn’t help the small huff of relief that escaped her when she spotted James Olsen still seated at a small table against the far wall.

Their eyes caught, and James lifted his cup in greeting. Lena went to smile, only to realize she already was.

It was still fairly early, before the usual crowd. By the time she was done paying, her chai was ready. Cup in hand, Lena made a beeline for James’ table.

“Good morning,” she greeted, perhaps too brightly. James smiled as she set her cup on the table. “I didn’t expect to see you still here...”

James shrugged it away. “I didn’t have anything this morning. Thought you might have had a meeting at L-Corp.”

“No,” Lena confessed, smiling sheepishly. “A conference call ran late last night, and I overslept.” She slid her purse off her shoulder, and removed her coat before sitting in the empty chair across from him.

James watched her, slowly rotating his mug against the table. “That’s a relief,” he confessed. “My next guess was that you were dodging me for some reason.”

His tone suggested it was a joke, and maybe that was what he meant it to be, but Lena sensed a kernel of truthful anxiety beneath the levity. Her chest swelled at the sound of it.

“Never,” she vowed.

James smiled. Lena cleared her throat.

“I’m glad I caught you actually,” Lena continued, adding just a dash of cream to her cup. “I was hoping to speak with you outside CatCo.”

James leaned forward, accepting the change of subject gamely. “What’s up?”

“It’s Kara.”

Again.

 _Still_.

“What about her?”

“She seems… distracted, again. She was barely present at the staff meeting this week, and she had nothing to contribute-- not even an update on her current pieces.” Lena shrugged helplessly. “If she hasn’t given you any more information than she’s given me, then I’m running out of options…”

James nodded, immediately putting some of her anxiety at ease. “I took her aside after the staff meeting. Something was off. She’s working on a story that took an unusual turn, and she didn’t feel comfortable sharing any further details until she knew more. And…”

Lena watched James back off his next point, and felt dread creeping back in. “And…?”

“I think something came up,” James hedged, tiptoeing around the subject they had somehow managed to mostly avoid between them. The invasion. Mon-el. Lena’s role in the near-destruction of the world. “I’m not sure what, but it has something to do with Mon-el. Kara didn’t share much, and it wasn’t my place to ask, but that’s the impression I got.”

_Oh._

Lena buried the sudden stab of hurt under a mask of corporate affirmation, nodding her acceptance of James’ information. Of course Kara would go to James first: he was first in her chain of command, a long time friend, and not the one who caused Mon-el’s loss. But no rationale softened the blow of being back on the outside, so soon after Kara let her back in again.

“Lena?”

Blinking up at James, she smiled to dispel the concern gazing back at her from across the table. “Sorry,” she offered. “I’m fine.”

One knowing eyebrow lifted, unimpressed and teasing. “I don’t know what I’d do if there ever came a time you weren’t _fine_.”

A flush rose to Lena’s neck, heating her chest as she recalled all the times she hasn’t been fine. When she realized her brother wanted her dead. When her mother was arrested, and Lena had been driven home in the back of squad car. When her mother escaped, and Lena had been back in the same squad car, this time in handcuffs.

She hadn’t been fine the morning she’d woken on a Daxamite stateship, and discovered she’d been played like the world’s smartest fiddle. Nor had she been fine when she’d watched all the ships leave, knowing that Mon-el was on one of them, or dead.

She hadn’t been fine the entire three months without Kara.

“How’s the arm?” Lena asked, clearing her throat.

James switched tracks effortlessly, giving his sore shoulder a roll. “Good as new.” He grinned, shrugging. “It was barely a scratch.”

“Barely a--” Lena cut her scoff short, rolling her eyes. “Like you’re one to talk about _fine_.”

Their talk continued, and didn’t return to Kara or Mon-el. They seemed to talk continuously about nothing at all, but when the morning crowd slowly started to trickle in, Lena rose with a warm feeling in her chest. “Ready to face the day, Mr. Olsen?”

James struck out towards the door first, carving a path for her through the crowd. At the door he paused to let her exit first, his long reach allowing him to prop the door open for her with room to spare. Just as she was about to put her foot across the threshold, a voice called her name.

“Are you Lena Luthor?” a middle-aged man asked, voice sharp over the buzz of the crowd.

Lena froze, heart jumping to her throat. Not today. _Please_ not today.

Behind her, James’ free hand came to rest at the small of her back, reminding her of his presence. Lena found herself glad for the contact, and the solidarity, as she gathered her wits.

The man stared at her, and Lena stared him down. She kept her features neutral as she scanned his middling frame for any sign of a weapon. His long wool coat was good quality, but well worn with loose buttons. His shoes matched, in both color and age. She spotted no unnatural bulges or edges. In fact, she couldn’t even tell if he’d stopped her out of rage or curiosity.

“I am,” Lena answered.

“Who wants to know?” James asked in low warning.

The interruption seemed to shake the man from his fugue. “Oh! Oh, no. Sorry, I shouldn’t have--” He hefted his briefcase, and Lena felt herself recoil, just a bit. James let the door go, his entire body shifting to edge in front of Lena, only to meet the unyielding corner of Lena’s elbow.

 _Oh, no._ There would be no collateral damage this time.

The man reached into his inner pocket-- James pushed again, more insistently, but Lena refused to budge-- and withdrew a small notepad.

“Could I get your autograph?” he asked brightly, seemingly missing the entire exchange between the pair before him. “My daughter-- well, she’s a huge fan. She really loves science, and she’s so smart they put her in an advanced physics class at her school. She’s the only girl though, and the boys were giving her such a hard time she was going to transfer out until she saw your TED Talk. It made a world of difference, and she just hasn’t stopped talking about you since--!”

Now it was Lena’s turn to stare. The man blinked, suddenly seeming to remember they were in the middle of a coffee shop during rush hour.

“I’m so sorry, this must be a huge imposition. But I had to ask--”

“No! No, it’s fine,” Lena said quickly. James’ hand fell away from her back, only lift and give her shoulder blade a discreet rub as she numbly reached out and accepted the pad and pen the man offered. “What’s her name?”

“Lupe. Lupe Trujillo.”

Lena scribbled a quick note on the small paper, then signed her name with a flourish. “How old is Lupe?”

“Fifteen. She’s already looking at colleges, looking to major in physics. I can hardly believe it.”

“Really,” Lena demurred. “You know, MIT has an excellent physics program.”

The man laughed. “Oh, don’t I know it! It’s been her top choice since she found out it’s your alma mater.”

A new squirm twisted Lena’s insides. This time, a warmth came with it, banishing the chill brought on by her earlier alarm. She turned to the next note page and scribbled a quick phone number, and a name.

“This is the number for our outreach department. Angela is in charge of our internship program. If Lupe is interested, I know they’re still accepting applications for the next session. L-Corp is always looking for bright new minds, and if she’s accepted it would make her college application more attractive to school with strong science departments.”

Mr. Trujillo accepted the pad with a beaming grin. “Thank you so much! I’ll let her know.”

Lena found herself smiling back. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too. Thank you so much, Miss Luthor.” Hector stuck his hand out, and Lena accepted the handshake without hesitation. “Lupe is going to flip when she hears that I met you.”

Lena hesitated. “Mr. Trujillo, do you have a business card? L-Corp offers several scholarships for young women entering STEM programs, and there are also a few outreach events Lupe might be interested in. I could have my assistant forward some information to you, if you…”

“Yes! God, yes! Please.” He combed through his pockets and retrieved a business card with softened edges. “My email is on there.”

Lena took the card with a smile, glancing at the name printed on its face. Hector Trujillo. An accountant based in a firm three blocks over. “Thank you. I’m afraid I have to get going, but--”

“Of course. I didn’t mean to keep you so long-- thank you again!”

Hector slipped back into line, and James took up his post at the door. Lena ducked through the doorway and strode purposefully past the wide windows lining Noonan’s. As soon as glass gave way to concrete, Lena paused to catch her breath, cheeks tingling in a delayed response to the unexpected encounter. She took the card out of her pocket and stared at it as though it might start to explain what the hell just happened.

James trailed to a stop beside her, and placed a gentle hand on her wrist. Lena looked up at him, and was met with the warmest smile she had yet to see from him.

“Not exactly what you expected, huh,” James commented, slowing to join her.

Lena shook her head. “No. Not at all.”

“Well,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. “It’s been a long time coming.”

His hand fell away as they resumed their walk to CatCo, but he didn’t go far. As they navigated the crowded sidewalk, their shoulders brushed and bumped, and more than once their hands almost found their way to touching. Riding high on the exchange with Hector Trujillo, Lena couldn’t bring herself to move away. Neither of them tried to fill the silence as they walked, and when James held CatCo’s lobby door open for her, their eyes met, and James’ smile was still there, warm and certain.

 _Maybe he’s right_ , Lena thought as they headed for the executive elevator. Maybe Mr. Trujillo marked the first shift of public perception for Lena, and for L-Corp.

And maybe Kara’s secrecy wasn’t the end of the world. Disappointment still stung beneath Lena’s good mood, but it was tempered by a new realization that crept up on her. As she and James climbed into the elevator with a handful of other employees, Lena considered that maybe, just maybe-- Kara wasn’t her only friend anymore. Maybe, she had one more person she could count her corner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after 3x08, when Kara returns to Earth-38.

Lena had a problem. A big, tall, James Olsen-sized problem. She had a problem with the way she continued to treat their morning coffee as a standing appointment, and the way they shifted from weekly, to twice-weekly, to daily. She had a problem with how craning her head up to meet his gaze on their walks to the office had a way of pulling a specific smile to her face, one that never seemed to show up for anyone else.

She had a problem with the way James caught her eye in meetings and conference calls and held it, longer than he ever seemed to have a reason to. Sometimes it was in the guise of listening, or to smirk at some silent joke, and sometimes for no reason at all.

Lena had a problem with the fact she had no idea what to do about the flutter that started low in her belly and slowly, over the course of weeks, made its way up to settle in the base of her throat.

Their working relationship precluded anything more. That’s what Lena told herself whenever she caught herself entertaining the thought of dinner, or drinks. She told herself it had nothing to do with the vulnerability that came with idea of allowing someone new into her life. She hid behind her excuse, and managed to remain perfectly content right up until the moment Kara plopped herself in front of Lena one Tuesday afternoon on the public terrace.

Jarred from her working lunch, spent nibbling on a sandwich while reviewing the latest proposal to cross her desk, Lena glanced up at her in surprise. Kara stared at her.

“All right, spill,” she delivered forcefully.

Lena blinked, her brain struggling to shift focus from her work to the sudden distraction sitting in front of her. “Excuse me?”

“You, James… Spill!”

Heat crept up the back of Lena’s neck. She scanned the terrace, revealing only a handful of people completely uninterested in their conversation. Despite their disinterest, Lena felt her hackles lift at the implication. “We’ve been working well together--”

“Yeah,” Kara exclaimed in a loud whisper, “ _really_ well, from what I’ve seen…”

Lena eyed her warily, her smile dimming by the second. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Lying through her teeth came easier than she thought it would. It turned the words bitter in Lena’s throat, grating like glass but spilling smooth as silk in the face of a Kara who smiled at her like a robot and whose voice was sharp as diamonds.

The last time Kara had joined Lena on this terrace, they’d gossiped about boy bands and play would you rather lik a couple of teenagers. Lena barely remembered what that Kara looked like. Lena could barely remember being that person herself, and now she had to wonder if those friends still existed.

“So,” Kara pushed, needling deeper against the walls Lena had thrown up between them. “What is going on between you two?”

Once upon a time, Lena might have confessed everything. If Kara had asked in the same voice of that spring afternoon before the invasion, she would have. Instead she got the sharp edge of Kara’s reporter voice, the one she used when digging information out of a reluctant source. Lena found she didn’t care for it.

Not one bit.

“Nothing,” Lena returned evenly. “Nothing at all.”

Lena scooped up her papers and rose from her seat. Kara blinked at her, as thought stunned by the abrupt end to their exchange.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I have a meeting in ten minutes--”

“Really? James said you were free...”

“James Olsen is not my assistant, and therefore has no reason to know the full details of my schedule,” Lena avoided Kara’s gaze. “Excuse me.”

“Lena--”

“CatCo Magazine isn’t a gossip rag,” Lena bit out, finally locking gazes. “I expect its reporters to act as such.”

Kara’s expression went slack, and Lena started gathering her papers. When she rose to her feet, Kara followed.

“Lena, what-- we’re friends!”

Lena met her gaze, unable to muster even a shade of a smile. “Then next time try asking as one.”

Then she left, heading for the elevator and texting James about an invented appointment at L-Corp. She didn’t want to be in the building when Kara realized friendship just wasn’t worth the trouble.

* * *

Lena went home early that night. She was in her pajamas by six, and curled up on the couch with a thick book and a heavy glass of wine in an attempt to distract herself from the scene that replayed in her head.

Kara’s hard tone. Kara’s features flat with shock and hurt.

Lena’s own hurt and the anger that came with it.

She hadn’t overreacted. Kara shouldn’t have asked her something like that in the office, and she had no business asking it like she had… like it was a scoop. Of which there wasn’t any. No scoops here. She and James were strictly professional, perhaps nearing something like friendship and that was all there was to it.

Except…

Except now, with the distance of hours and anxiety, Lena recognized that her defensiveness hadn’t just been a response to Kara’s tone, or the presumption that Kara felt so entitled to her life when Kara could barely manage to be present-- Lena had snapped because Kara had tread too closely to something Lena had done her best to ignore.

 _Shit_.

A knock tapped against Lena’s front door, shattering the quiet. She knew who it was even before she habitually leaned in to peer through the peephole and saw Kara on the other side. Lena opened the door and stood aside, wordlessly granting Kara access.

After locking the door again, Lena returns to the couch, with Kara trailing a step behind. The weight of things being not-right between them was suffocating in its familiarity. All of a sudden it felt like the entire summer, and the headway Lena had made repairing their friendship felt tossed to the wind.

“What happened today?” Kara asked softly.

Lena shrugged, biting back the reflexive urge to apologize. She’d done nothing but apologize since she’d come to National City-- first for Lex, then her mother, then the invasion. It never ended. Lena was tired, and apologizing one more time wouldn’t ease the pressure sitting on her chest.

“You tell me,” Lena finally responded, covering the croak of her voice by taking a long swallow of wine.

Kara shook her head. “I only asked…”

“Interrogated,” Lena corrected, lifting one finger from her glass to point in Kara’s direction. “You were questioning me, like I was some kind of crooked--”

“That was _not_ \--” Kara’s voice lifted with her temper, only to cut off abruptly. She huffed, casting her eyes to the ceiling in search of words to say. “We’re friends, Lena. Friends talk.”

Lena bristled. She wasn’t an idiot, and while Kara may be the first true friend Lena could speak of, the condescension riled her.

“Sure they do. But not like that. Not when you’ve barely been able to be in the same room as me for more than a few minutes before bolting.”

Kara scoffed, harsh and dismissive. “That’s not-- we’ve done brunch, and, and _girls’ night!”_

“You were twenty minutes late for brunch, and girl’s night you left to get ice and never came back.”

“That’s not quite--”

“This is the first time you’ve been in my apartment in six months.”

It felt good to say it, to finally give voice to the hurt and frustration and guilt that came with Kara’s absence. It brought tears to Lena’s eyes, but the weight lifted off her chest, allowing her to breathe freely for the first time in months.

She inhaled and lifted her gaze to Kara’s. She stared at Lena with a blank expression, made empty with shock. Guilt rushed in, eclipsing Lena’s momentary relief.

“Lena, I--”

Kara’s attempt to respond lost steam in moments, leaving her at a loss. Lena shook her head.

Her throat clogged, and her vision clouded with sudden tears. She stared at the knee of her pajamas, distracting herself by tracing the flowers printed on the fabric.

“When Jack died, you sat with me on my couch and promised you would be there always,” she said softly. She stared unseeing into her wineglass, conscious of Kara’s gaze but unable to meet it. “All I--”

Lena’s voice cracked, and her lips pulled downwards as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“All I wanted was to do the same for you.”

Quiet answered her.

Lena’s breath came shorter and shorter until chest felt like it was splitting open. At the edges of her cloudy vision, Kara’s hand reached in and gently pulled the glass from her fingertips. Then Kara’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. Lena couldn’t even think to pull away. She accepted the comfort, buried her face in Kara’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t bear it if you hated me too,” she whispered.

“I was never mad at you,” Kara told her. Her arms tightened around Lena. “I’m so sorry I ever made you feel like I was.”

The knot in Lena’s chest eased, and she sobbed with the relief it brought. For the first time in months she felt her world shift back into place. Kara’s hands rubbed soft circles against her back.

“I just…” Kara struggled to find the right words, but didn’t release Lena until she pulled back of her own accord. “I wasn’t ready to feel better.”

Lena wiped her eyes, sniffling. “Kara, I would never--”

and when they finally pulled away, Lena found herself able to smile, albeit sheepishly. Their hands remained linked, as Kara looked at her with something like guilt.

“I just… wasn’t ready to feel better.”

“Kara, I would never--”

“I know,” Kara promised, squeezing Lena’s fingers. “I know you wouldn’t try to rush me, but Lena… just being around you makes me feel more normal. And somehow I thought feeling normal again meant forgetting him, or minimizing what he meant to me. I couldn’t do that. Not then.”

Lena watched her, sensing there was more Kara wasn’t sharing. “And now?”

Kara’s gaze darkened, and this time it was Lena’s turn to squeeze her fingers in reassurance.

“Now… I don’t know. It still hurts to think about him, about-- what we could have had. But I think it’s time to move on.” Kara’s eyes brimmed with tears of her own. “I have to.”

Lena gazed at her. “Kara, I’m so sorry.”

“It was never your fault--”

“I’m sorry you’re hurting.” Lena squeezed Kara’s hand. “You deserve to be happy. And you will be,” she said quickly. “When you’re ready.”

Kara offered a sad smile. “Well, there is one thing that would help me feel better right now.”

“What?” Lena straightened, eager to help. “Anything!”

Her friend’s smile took on a puckish slant. “Tell me what’s going on with you and James?”

Lena froze.

Then she burst into laughter, starting deep in her belly and then pouring out of her in waves. Kara’s features creased into a true smile as she watched, holding fast to Lena’s hand.

“You are impossible!” Lena laughed.

“Yeah, but I’m right, aren’t I?”

Getting herself back under control, Lena wiped her eyes again, huffing. “There is absolutely nothing to tell.”

“Right, and the morning coffees are all just happenstance, and the _loaded_ glances you two share are totally normal.”

Lena rolled her eyes with a scoff. “I’m his boss, Kara.”

Blue eyes regarded her carefully. Lena held her gaze, refusing to be daunted. In the end, Kara caved first. “Fine,” she allowed. “I won’t push it. But _when_ that changes, I’m the first to know.”

Lena laughed again, and the sound felt so, so good.

“Deal?” Kara pestered, giving Lena’s hand an insistent wag.

“Deal,” Lena allowed. “If anything changes-- which it _won’t_ \-- you will be my first stop.”

Kara grinned at her, then tackled Lena in a strong hug. Lena shrieked, wrapping her arms around her friend to hold on tight as they fell back into the cushions, teetering perilously close to the edge of the couch. When Kara didn’t pull back, Lena curled around her, offering the comfort she’d wanted to share for so long.

“I’ve missed you,” she murmured, the words getting lost in the long blonde hair that had spread across her chin. “So much.”

Kara’s glasses pinched sharply against Lena’s ear as she nodded.

“I’ve missed you too.”


	9. Chapter 9

The bell over Noonan's front door dinged, jerking James' attention to the patron stepping over the threshold, only for him to slump back down in his seat when he found it wasn't Lena. Again.

He glanced at his watch, counted the minutes past the hour, and scanned the window for any sign of her.  _Again._

Lena'd been late before, even without notice, and James knew better than anyone the way an executive's schedule could derail in the blink of an eye. But after the way Lena had pulled away from him so suddenly the day before, and the debacle of Lena rushing to visit a sick Kara… James couldn’t shake the feeling that her tardiness was somehow a sign.

Christmas Eve replayed in his mind, running on the same loop since the moment he woke up on Christmas morning. Even now, more than a week later, James recalled with perfect clarity the way Lena's eyes glittered in the low light of the office. He could see the way she'd gazed at him like she were on the verge of a precipice with only him to catch her. Even now, he felt the phantom tug on his tie pulling him closer, until her lips pressed warm and soft against his.

It should have felt like lightning. He imagined it would, when he'd let himself imagine anything at all. He should tingle with shock and amazement, but... he didn't. It felt like stepping into a pool of water, only to realize they'd been swimming all along. It felt calm, and steady-- certain, as though it had been inevitable from the moment they met.

Or at least, that's what it felt like to James, until Lena backed off so abruptly. He thought they’d left things in a good place in the office, but with every second that ticked by without a word from Lena, his confidence eroded away, allowing doubts to start creeping in.

Had he misread the situation? Maybe Lena hadn’t been into him at all. Maybe what they’d shared on Christmas had only been the result of heightened adrenaline following the attempt on her life. Maybe, in the cold light of a looming New Year, Lena regretted their kiss.

 _No,_ James scolded himself, crumpling his napkin in a tight fist. If that were the case, Lena wouldn’t have panicked. She wouldn’t have pulled away, or gone to Kara, or come back to him. She wouldn’t have cared what James thought of her.

In a fit of determination, James picked up his phone and dialled Lena's number. He wasn’t keeping tabs, he argued to himself as the line rang. He was concerned for her wellbeing-- which was a perfectly valid reason to check in, given her recent assassination attempt. Totally normal, he convinced himself, even just between friends.

His need for an excuse terminated at the sound of Lena’s recorded voice prompting him to leave a message. He ended the call, gritting his teeth against the uneasiness that rose in his throat. It didn’t mean anything. Lena was fine. He was fine. They were fine.

And he would prove it too. There were only a few places Lena Luthor would be at this time of morning. Even if she were avoiding his calls, which James couldn't prove she was, Lena couldn’t avoid him in person if she intended to remain active at CatCo. Their paths would cross, one way or another.

Still, James waited another ten minutes before finally accepting that for whatever reason, Lena wouldn’t be joining him. As he rose, he tightened his jaw and ordered a chai latte and sticky bun to go. He might brace for the worst, but he'd prepare for any possibility, and maybe-- just maybe-- Lena's absence had nothing to do with him.

CatCo was still asleep when he arrived, and James took his time walking through the empty bullpen. He missed existing in the space as he once had while serving as the art director. He missed the sense of belonging, the familiarity that had evaporated the moment he accepted Cat's mantle. In quiet moments such as these, he could forget that he now existed apart from them, alone at the top.

Well, not quite alone, now.

Entering the expansive office, James began his morning ritual of turning on the lights, then the monitors, and filling the decanter of water that lived on the minibar. He even indulged in one of the cans of espresso from the mini fridge, suspecting he'd need the extra boost to face whatever awaited him. It was several long moments before he noticed the persistent sound of static, and longer still to follow it out onto the balcony in search of its source.

There he found Lena Luthor with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, curled up on the loveseat with her head pillowed against the back cushion. An active tablet sat in her lap, still echoing static and the occasional voice funneled through the police scanner app sitting open on the screen.

Biting back a grin, James retreated to his desk just long enough to retrieve the latte and pastry he'd brought in. Returning to the couch, he knelt carefully beside her and gently touched her knee with his free hand.

"Lena..." he said softly. When she didn't stir, he tried again with a touch more volume, giving her leg a tiny shake. "Lena?"

Dark eyelashes fluttered and parted to reveal bleary green eyes. She straightened slowly as confusion set in, until she saw the space around her and remembered the night before.

"James? What... Oh, no, our--" Lena's alarm stuttered mid-rise, faltering when she saw gifts James offered. Resuming her seat, her features warmed into a shy smile. "Thank you."

 

She took the sticky bun first, tearing off a small piece and popping it into her mouth before she accepted the drink.

James settled on the seat next to her. He watched as her fingers curled around the travel cup, leeching the warmth quickly dissipating through the cardboard. "I was a little worried when you didn't show," he confessed as she tore off another bite of pastry. "Thought maybe you were having second thoughts after yesterday."

Lena's gaze flashed flashed to his in surprise. She swallowed, and that shy smile returned, hiding behind her cup. "Not at all. When I couldn't sleep, I turned on the news to see if there'd been any update on Supergirl after she left the prison." She gestured with her cup to the building behind them. "Then I remembered we are the news. So I came here, and turned on the scanner, hoping I'd hear something."

"Did you?"

Lena shook her head, but shrugged to soften her disappointment. "Can't say I'm surprised. Whatever organization she works with knows how to stay off the radar."

James wisely remained silent. No need to lie, when Lena wasn't expecting him to respond. "I'm sure she'll be fine," he offered instead.

Silence answered him. Lena studied her sticky bun, setting it back inside its paper bag. Appetite apparently diminished, she finally looked up and offered a tired, but genuine smile. "I did enjoy the rest of the night though. Really."

"Me too." James wanted to say more, but his watch beeped a reminder, shortly followed by a buzz from Lena's phone.

“Ugh, the conference call...” she groaned. “Of all the days to fall asleep at the office.”

"You want to postpone? Go home get a change of clothes?"

Lena shrugged. "I'll just shower here."

“Really?” The last thing James wanted to do this morning was imply _anything_ about her hygiene. And it wasn't that he thought Lena considered sink showers beneath her, but well... " _Really?_ You’re okay to wear the same outfit?"

"I have a spare change in the wardrobe..." Lena eyed him curiously. "I’d have thought you would have noticed it by now."

James nodded, as though he knew exactly what she was talking about. But Lena continued to look at him strangely, her brow furrowing by micrometers and anxiety built in his chest until words vomited out of him. “Well, I mean, I don’t exactly make a habit of scoping out the ladies room, but I assumed--”

It didn’t help. Lena’s lips tightened, the corners of her eyes crinkling. James barely noticed, his thoughts swiftly unraveling as he tried to put it together. The men’s room shared a wall with the women’s. He knew the layouts mirrored each other, so where would there even be _room--_

"You do know there's a private bathroom in your office, right?"

Lena’s voice sliced through his confusion like a hot knife. In a single instant, James’ reality shifted. He had to lock his body in place to keep from turning his head to check for himself. _No._ Of course there wasn’t. He’d have noticed…

Meeting Lena’s gaze, James knew that nothing he said could save his image now. He could fake an urgent appointment, pretend he knew all along, but Lena had already put the pieces together, if her growing smile was anything to go by.

Instead of brushing it off, James leaned into it.

“ _Psh,_ ” he scoffed theatrically. “ _Totally_ knew about that. Absolutely, one hundred percent aware of the secret bathroom in the office I’ve been working in for the past two years--”

A bark of laughter popped out of Lena, who unsuccessfully tried to catch it by slapping her hand over her mouth.

“To be fair, I never tried to think too hard about how Cat Grant did her business--” James started laughing as Lena lost the struggle and dissolved into giggles, “but considering she couldn’t even share an elevator, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Lena threw her head back and laughed, laughed, laughed. James watched her, as she nearly ran out of steam before setting off again the moment their eyes met. Her mirth filled the air around them, warming James’ cheeks even in the lingering morning chill.

“Okay, okay, not all of us were born in a boardroom…”

Still laughing, Lena climbed to her feet and stuck out a hand to take his. Her skin was soft against James’ as their palms met, and he let himself be led to the far corner. There, between the desk and ice bucket of chocolate, she deftly palmed the near invisible handle James had never noticed. James entered and couldn't help but stare at the private bathroom that had been lurking behind his desk all this time.

With walls lined in a muted sandstone, James would have almost called it understated, if not for the marble floor and dressing room lights lining the mirror--unmistakably Cat Grant. And sure enough there was a narrow shower in one corner and a tall wardrobe standing next to it.

It was spotless-- only the small basket of hair accessories sharing a shelf with a matching makeup bag suggested the space was used at all.

James turned his attention back to Lena, whose giggles had finally ceased. The tilt of her head softened the mirth in her eyes, while pink lips pressed together in an attempt to hide a persistent smile. In the morning light, Lena looked-- like nothing James could give words to. His heart skipped a beat, and his fingers itched to smooth the wayward lock of hair bunched up behind her  ear.

Almost as soon as he thought it, Lena reached up to tuck the offending snarl behind her ear. Her attention drifted briefly to his lips, before she half-turned to give James room to exit. He paused at the threshold, and casually propped one arm against the opposite doorjamb, unable to relinquish her gaze.

"I'd really like to kiss you again," he said, voice rumbling in his throat. Movement in the bullpen caught his eye-- their respite was over, and the day begun. "Maybe somewhere that's not the office?"

"Dinner," Lena agreed softly. She leaned back against the door, chin at a jaunty angle as her gaze warmed into a smile. "No business. Just us."

James nodded. "I think I can manage that."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timing of this one is a little screwy. This is the James and Winn bro chap that should have had a little bit after the Christmas episode, before Lena and James agree to their first official date.

“I dunno, man,” Winn droned over comms as James smacked a would-be mugger in the face with his shield. “We just don’t talk anymore, you know?”

James ducked a swing from the thief’s buddy, then smashed a vial of knockout gas against the pavement. In moments, both men lay unmoving on the ground, unconscious. As he scooped up the purse they’d stolen, a wail of sirens confirmed Winn already notified the police for a pick up. From the sound of it, James had just enough time to make someone’s night.

He trotted around the corner, and was rewarded with the sight of a shell-shocked woman standing in the light of the lone functioning streetlamp on the block. He scuffed his feet against the pavement, alerting her to his presence before he drew to a stop just at the edge of the light. She jumped at the sight of him, but didn’t scream. An improvement, at least.

“I believe this is yours,” he rumbled, lifting the purse before setting it down on the pavement. Then he turned and departed the way he came. Just as he turned the corner, the woman called out.

“Thank you!”

Guardian didn’t stop, but James smiled under his helmet. Times were changing, and he was glad for it. Before the invasion, seeing people’s fear of Guardian had shaken him, made him doubt the purpose of his efforts. People may not be calling him for help, but they weren’t afraid of him either.

Trotting back to the van, Winn continued to ramble in James’ ear. “I’ve tried to spice things up, with the fancy dinner and the rose petals, and yeah the sex is great but we haven’t had a serious conversation in weeks. It’s all superficial and she doesn’t seem to want anything deeper, which sucks--- _whoa!_ ”

James snapped the van door open, interrupting Winn’s soliloquy and causing him to jolt dramatically in his seat.

“Jeez!” Winn glared at James, winging a Funyun at his head. “Very funny.”

“Yeah, it was a little bit.” James stripped off his helmet and reached for his water bottle. “But that’s rough, buddy. I’m sorry.”

James shut the door, sealing them both inside. When he slumped back into a seat, he found Winn staring at him oddly. “What?”

“Who is it?”

“Who… is what?” James blinked at his friend in confusion, trying to decipher the smug, knowing smirk that told him that Winn had solved some kind of mystery.

“You’ve met somebody,” Winn surmised. Before James could deny it, a hand lifted to silence him. “You’ve been very quiet on the relationship advice front lately, and that can only mean one thing-- your romantic circumstances have changed, and you’re trying not to say anything so you don’t hurt my feelings. So… come on man, who is it?”

James busied himself with another long gulp of water, using the moment it gave him to think of how he could deflect the charges. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to do even that.

“Oh my god, it’s Lena Luthor!” Winn’s features lit up like Kara’s Christmas tree just a few weeks before. “I knew it! I was getting _beaucoup_ vibes from you guys at Kara’s party, I _knew_ something was going on with you two!”

James waved him off. “Look, it may not be anything--”

“But it may be _something?”_

“It was just a kiss, man.”

Winn’s eyes widened. “You-- you _kissed?_   _You_ kissed Lena Luthor? Hell, yeah!”

He reached in for a high five, but James didn’t reciprocate. “It’s not like that.”

Pulling back, Winn awkwardly rubbed his shunned hand against his shirt. “Okay. Not like… a kiss? I’m confused.”

James sighed, resigning himself to this conversation that seemed impossible to stop. “I just mean it’s too soon to say much about it. We haven’t really talked about where we want it to go. And I dunno, man… it doesn’t feel right to talk about it with anyone else until we do.”

Silence filled the van, suddenly oppressive as James waited for Winn’s inevitable reaction… which somehow never came. James looked at him, and found a quiet smile looking back at him.

“Wow,” Winn said quietly. His eyebrows lifted. “You really like her.”

James looked away. His suit suddenly felt too hot. Still, he couldn’t deny it. “Yeah. I do.”

“Can’t say I ever saw that coming.” Winn grinned. “But I’m happy for you dude. That’s cool! Really cool.” He paused. “Just…”

James blinked. “Just what?”

“Ah, nevermind.” Winn waved it away, but James chased it down.

“No, really," he pushed. "What is it?”

“It’s just… Lena’s been through a lot. With her family and stuff. We’ve talked about it a little, and she might want people to think she’s tough as nails, but-- she’s not, man. So, just be careful, okay?”

James nodded, but couldn’t help the tiny kernel of resentment that his friend was more worried about Lena than him. Winn must have caught a glimmer of it in his eyes, because a moment later he broke into a grin.

“I mean, you haven’t exactly had a picnic of it yourself, but ah--” His gaze turned teasing. “Without a single count of homicide to the family name, you wouldn’t even qualify for the shitty childhood olympics, so…”

James relinquished the point readily. “Yeah, man. I get it.”

“I’m happy for you, dude.” Winn offered him a genuine smile. “Really.”

James nodded, unable to say anything more. Part of him felt like everything was one jinx away from crumbling, and the other felt complete surprise that he cared that it might. He wanted it to work with Lena, and he was in the awkward position of not knowing what she wanted from him. But she seemed content, for now, with what they had. And for now, so was James.

“Another round?” Winn asked.

James glanced at the clock. After four hours, he’d only run into the one thwarted mugging. A quiet night by any standard. Any sane person would call it quits.

_Lena was probably still working._

The thought occurred to him unbidden, but it refused to leave. Lena was probably working, and she probably hadn’t eaten. But instead of considering returning to the streets to put in an equal number of hours to match Lena, James found himself running through a list of take-out places still open in the vicinity of CatCo.

“Nah, man. Let’s call it.”

Maybe Lena wouldn’t mind a visitor.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one has been partially completed for ages now, and while I'm rusty and this is not perfect, it's not gonna get any better. I just want to see my pretties having fun on a date and making good decisions.

The night Kara launched for Fort Rozz, James met Lena for dinner. Despite having been in National City a year longer, James didn’t even know Elodie’s existed, let alone feel as comfortable as Lena looked where she sat at the bar. As he waited to check his coat, he couldn’t tear his eyes from where she held the woman behind the bar in thrall. 

In a modest jumpsuit of deep cranberry, her hair upswept in a neat twist, Lena spoke animatedly with the bartender. Seemingly unaware of the two empty glasses halfway down the bar and the two middle-aged men attached to them trying to flag her attention, the bartender threw her head back in laughter, earning a grin from Lena in return. 

“You should have seen his face!” James caught the tail end of Lena’s story as he approached. “He stood there blinking at me like I just told him the sky was green, and then before he can say anything else Supergirl lands on my balcony and carts him off for a little heart-to-heart-- Oh, hey!”

Lena caught sight of him, and somehow her smile grew even bigger. James grinned back.

“Hey.” James met the bartender’s eye, and found the blonde giving him a surreptitious once-over. “Hi.”

“Evening.” Perhaps he imagined the woman’s disappointment, under the perfectly pleasant tone her of response. “What can I get you?”

Taking a look at Lena’s glass, James shrugged. “Whatever she’s having is fine with me.”

“Coming right up. Feel free to take a seat.”

Lena patted the counter next to her. When James sat, she leaned in close. “I don’t ever bother getting a table here. Kat’s the best server in the place.” 

James could imagine why. “You won’t catch me complaining at sitting next to you.” He bumped their knees together to prove his point, earning a blush and a shy smile. Kat set his drink in front of him, sending Lena a wink before leaving them to it.

“Did Sam get to her flight okay?” he asked. One dark eyebrow lifted, reminding him of their one caveat for the evening: no work. “Right. Sorry.”

“I saw her off, gave her a rundown of what to expect,” Lena allowed, sipping her drink. “And how did CatCo fare without me hovering all day?”

“No fires,” he promised.

There the conversation ran out, stretching into silence that felt awkward for thirty seconds before Lena started to laugh. James soon joined in. “Yeah, we are kind of bad at the no work thing, aren’t we?” he chuckled.

“Maybe a little,” she agreed, still giggling. “It doesn’t help that we’re sort of doing all of this out of order.”

James shifted towards her, leaning an elbow against the counter of the bar. “Okay, so how about we do the first date thing. Cheesy questions about all the stuff we should already know by now.”

With a tilt of her head, Lena’s gaze suddenly turned alluring. “Cheesy first date questions barely scratch the surface. I want to know  _ you _ , James Olsen.”

His breath suddenly turned tight in his chest. James swallowed the urge to clear his throat or fidget with his tie. Lena’s eyes glittered at him in the low light of the restaurant, soft and warm, and distinct change from the razor sharp focus he saw in the office. This Lena felt like a secret. One she willingly let him see, a gift James still felt he had yet to earn-- one he cherished. 

“Then we ask each other whatever we want,” James amended. His fingers ghosted across the back of her hand. Lena’s gaze followed the path of his touch, then flickered up to meet his eye. “But the catch is that we both have to answer.”

“All right.” Lena gave a thoughtful hum. “Let’s start easy: favorite stuffed animal.”

James gave a short laugh. “It was a Hot Wheels, actually. Porsche Carrera. It was an ugly ass car, but I carried that thing everywhere until I was about eight.” James won a hidden smile as Lena tried not to laugh at his poor taste in cars. “You?”

“Teddy bear. He didn’t have a name, but he came home with me from the orphanage. I used him as a pillow for years. He was so soft. I loved him to pieces-- literally!” Lena broke into a broad grin when she saw James watching her carefully. “I cried for days when the maid told me he was beyond repair.”

Her expression softened in remembrance, but before James could say anything, Lena brightened, turning her gaze back to him. “Your turn.”

“Okay, another lowball… favorite color.”

Now Lena’s smile turned sheepish. “Don’t have one.”

“What? No. No way.” 

“Colors are just different wavelengths of light,” she said in her own defense. “I don’t  _ dis _ like them, I just don’t have a favorite.”

“Well, what color is your favorite dress?” 

“Blue, but correlation doesn’t equal causation. I chose it for the way the cut feels on my body, not the color. And if I do choose a dress for color, blue and green both complement my skin tone. I prefer red on my lips because it catches the eye.”

Lena shrugged at James’ stare. “Colors serve a purpose. It’s not a crime to not have a favorite, you know.”

“No,” James agreed quickly. “No, it’s not, but it is a little weird. I mean, if you’re looking at a row of brand new cars-- they’re all identical in every way except for the color. Which one would you choose?”

“Black,” came the swift response. “It’s one of the two most common colors for cars in America, and the least obtrusive,  favored by most security firms.”

James sighed. “Okay, okay. Fine, I’ll let it go, for now.”

A dark brow arched in amusement. “What’s yours then? Better be good, as the self-appointed color police.”

“It used to be blue-- you know, just an answer to give when I was asked. But as I grew older, I realized that there was this silver, tealish color that kept popping up in my life. My college backpack, my first car, even the paint for my apartment… it was all this one specific shade that I always gravitated to. And I figured that’s what made a favorite color.”

“Like the color of your shirt?” Lena asked, giving his sleeve a tug.

James looked down, and sure enough, his button down was the same shade he’d just described. He laughed. “Yeah. Exactly like that. See? It’s everywhere.”

A laugh bubbled out of her. “So what you’re saying is that if I ever see your place I’m going to see a lot of monochrome?”

“Okay, you know what? Next question.” She laughed again at his dodge, but allowed him to continue. “What did you want to be when you grew up? I was going to be a firefighter.”

Lena didn’t respond right away. Her features turned thoughtful. Then, in the quiet moments that followed, her eyes grew solemn. Concern slowly hooked its fingers in James, turning his cheeks warm with self-consciousness. “You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want--”

“No, it’s fine, it’s just… I never had one,” she said softly. Unlike the lack of favorite color, James didn’t push. He let the moment stretch between them, giving room for her to share as much as she wanted. 

“I guess there was an expectation that I’d be of use somehow.” Lena drew back in her seat, as her fingers turned her scotch glass in tight circles. “I considered being a doctor like my mother, but almost as soon as the thought occurred to me I realized I didn’t want anything to do with her, so… I kind of fell into engineering. Being around Lex, his enthusiasm for science and discovery was infectious. And it happened to be something I’m good at.”

James nodded, understanding. Photography happened for him almost the same way-- a random throwaway elective turned into his passion, eclipsing basketball and firefighting and the military. The key difference, it seemed, was that he’d had a childhood that let him dream. His concern wasn’t about being  _ of use _ \-- it was making a difference.

“There wasn’t anything crazy you wanted to do?” he asked. “Run away to join the circus?”

“There was the time I told my mom I was going to cure cancer.” Lena offered a thin smile, lifting one shoulder in an unenthusiastic shrug. “Does it still count if I said it when I was twenty?”

James didn’t know what to say to that. Curing cancer didn’t seem too far-fetched for someone as brilliant as Lena Luthor, but the self-deprecation in her voice made him hesitate in saying so. Almost as though she sensed his helplessness, Lena brightened into a sudden, dismissive smile.

“God, that’s depressing, isn’t it? Lena Luthor: most unimaginative child ever.” She laughed, and took another swallow of her drink. “If anyone asks, tell them I wanted to be a ballerina or something. A career cut tragically short by a turned ankle playing hopscotch.”

James chuckled, glad for the return to levity. “Sure. I’ll definitely do that.”

She smiled at him, but before she could pose another question, James’ phone rang loudly in his pocket. Seeing Winn’s name on the caller ID, James shot Lena an apologetic glance. “Sorry, I need to take this.”

“Of course,” she said readily. “I’ll be here.”

James moved to a quiet corner and answered the call with a huff of impatience. “Winn, this better be good.”

“Uhhh, well, you know that gang that’s been hitting up banks after hours?” Winn started, fast and high. “They just tripped the credit union on 8th. So, it’s not good-good, but good for Guardian to get some more positive face time with NCPD! Where are you?”

“Elodie’s. With Lena. Like I told you I would be. Three times.”

“Oh, riiiiight.” Winn hissed, tapping awkwardly on the other end of the line. “Right, right, right-- was that tonight?” Winn paused. 

“It’s just, the thing is they don’t ever stick around long enough for the police to catch them. But you, my man, are five blocks away. You can dash over, knock some heads, tie up loose ends and be back in-- an hour. Tops.”

An hour. James’ stomach twisted. Lena wouldn’t wait an hour. “Come on, dude.”

“I know, I know, but the cops have been trying to get these guys for months, and getting them will help Guardian’s reputation with the cops! Right now they barely see Guardian as a step above the thugs we catch on the streets. Catching these guys is a step towards the big leagues.”

“Yeah, or they’ll be pissed we stepped on their toes,” James muttered. 

“Come on, bro. I’ll make it up to you.”

James glanced back towards the bar. Kat was sliding Lena another round, and as Lena thanked her, green eyes slid towards James. Their eyes met, and Lena’s smile froze in place, as though sensing the response on James’ lips.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Fine.”

“Yes!” Winn whooped. “Truck is on the way to you. I’m sending the address to your phone.”

Ending the call, James turned back to the bar. Lena had turned back to her drink, but looked up as he neared. She met his gaze with a tight smile. 

“You have to leave,” she surmised. 

James nodded. “Yeah, I’m so sorry, something’s come up.”

“But not CatCo related.”

“No, ah-- it’s…” The lie didn’t come. James gave up. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

Lena shrugged, leaning back in her seat. The softness in her eyes vanished, and discomfort lined the edges of her features. “Don’t worry about it.” Again, she offered a mirthless smile. “Really.”

“Lena, I--”

“It’s fine.” Lena nodded towards their drinks, half-finished. “I’ll take care of this. Go.”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, James fought a grimace at the way Lena turned her head just enough to disinvite a kiss. “I’ll call you,” he promised. 

Lena hummed an acknowledgement.

James left his coat checked in favor of moving quickly. He made it less than a block before he slowed to a stop. Lena’s thinly veiled disappointment flashed through his mind, and this time he saw the resignation in her features. It was the look of someone used to be left dangling, to coming second to responsibility.

“Screw this.” James pulled out his phone and dialled Winn.

His friend answered with an enthusiastic whoop. “James, my man! Truck is pulling into place now. Where you at?”

“Tonight is a no-go.” 

“Wait, what?”

“I’m not coming.” The bank was well past closed, and the money was insured. The only thing the city lost was pride. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Silence answered him, but then finally Winn sighed. “Okay. Okay, fine! I’ll take the truck back to base. But you owe me one.”

James ended the call. Who owed who what would be a conversation for another night. He returned to the restaurant, and to Lena. Kat the bartender glared at him, but said nothing as he put a hand on his empty chair. “This seat still available?”

Lena glanced at him from the corner of her eye, barely turning her head. “I thought something came up.”

“I rescheduled.” Finally, Lena met his gaze. Her features revealed nothing of her thoughts, leaving him to find his own way. For a brief moment, James wished he hadn’t answered Winn’s call in the first place. “It didn’t feel right leaving you without a favorite color.”

A small smile graced Lena’s lips, and her chin dipped demurely. Then the chair under his hand scooted out in silent invitation, nudged by a stilettoed foot. James reclaimed his seat with a wide grin. 

“So, whose turn is it?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't set in any particular place in the season timeline. Just a quick little interlude that's goofy and doofy. It might be a little clunky, but I didn't have time to do much editing, so I hope you enjoy the spirit of the thing anyway.

James liked to answer his own phone when Eve went to lunch. There usually wasn’t that many callers, and he liked to think that few that did kept him humble-- and gave him an idea who treated his assistant with respect and who didn’t. But when he answered his phone one innocuous Tuesday afternoon, he didn’t expect to hear Jess on the other end.

She started talking before he could even issue a greeting.

“Eve, I’m so sorry, but I need you to tell your boss that Lena can’t make it to the restaurant tonight. She’s being absolutely--”

“Miss Huang,” James cut in before Jess could incriminate herself. “This is James Olsen. Miss Tessmacher is on her break.”

A good three seconds of dead silence traveled over the line before Jess snapped back into business mode. “Mr. Olsen! I-- I apologize for the informality of--”

“No, that’s all right,” he promised. He’d be an idiot to think Jess and Eve wouldn’t be on a first name basis at this point, and he was the one who bucked expectations by daring to pick up a ringing phone. “Now what’s this about tonight?”

“Miss Luthor has to cancel. She won’t be able to make it. She’s very sorry--”

“No, that's okay. Is there any particular reason she chose to notify me through my assistant?” Thing had been going good between them. Or so he thought. This latest development didn’t bode particularly well.

Silence drifted across the phone, and James could practically feel the tension radiating through the handset.

“I’m sorry, Jess, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I can ask Lena myself--”

“Miss Luthor would prefer I cite an unexpected, unavoidable meeting,” Jess cut in, “but truthfully Mr. Olsen, Lena had an unfortunate run-in with a paparazzo this afternoon.”

_Ah._ “You don’t say…”

“I’m afraid I mean that quite literally, Mr. Olsen. The swelling is getting worse, and the bleeding hasn’t stopped completely, and she’s refusing medical attention.”

Alarm rippled through James, setting his senses on edge. “ _He hit her?_ ”

“It appears to have been an accident, but as I said--”

“Miss Huang,” James cut in again. “Please do me a favor, and do _not_ inform Miss Luthor that I am currently on the way to her office.”

Jess’ relief is immediate and audible. “Thank you.”

Hanging up, James forwarded the phones and shot a note to Eve requesting she clear his schedule as soon as she returned from lunch. Then he gathered his things and made a beeline for L-Corp.

He caught Jess’ gaze for a brief, meaningful moment before crossing to Lena’s door. Inside, Lena sat leaning her head back against the couch, with a bulky, towel-pouch of ice pressed to her face. Her eyes didn’t open.

“No offense, Jess, but the do not disturb now officially includes you.”

“And how about a ditched date?”

Green eyes snapped open, then shut again with a groan. “I’m gonna kill her,” she grumbled thickly, voice clotted. “And then I’m firing her.”

“She only told me you needed to cancel. I thought I’d stop by to see if you needed help with anything. It’s been a while since we got the assistants involved.”

He settled next to her on the couch, but Lena made no move to receive him. “Let me guess-- I should see the other guy?”

“No,” she glubbed. “I doubt that would have gone over well... ‘ _Luthor Finally Snaps-- Slugs Hapless Cameraman’_ ”

“Did he get your good side?”

At that, she groaned. “He wasn’t even there for _me!_ Some starlet was having lunch at the same restaurant I used for a client meeting. I got jostled trying to leave and caught a faceful of a twenty-pound camera lens. Stupid, freaking…” She trailed into indiscernible curses. Then she eyed him over the lumpy, stained towel. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

“I’ve seen you concussed-- you’ve seen me shot. If this were an action movie, we’d be practically married by now.” James grinned when Lena rolled her eyes. “C’mon, lemme see.”

The ice pack came away, revealing puffy swelling and smears of congealing blood around Lena’s mouth and nose. Nothing looked out of place, but her lip was split and doing its best to balloon, adding additional flair to the overall paint-by-numbers look.

“Oooh,” James hissed, catching her eye. “They’re probably going to have to amputate.”

A smile teased the corner of her mouth, in spite of Lena’s best effort to glower. “Might be preferable at this point.”

“Nah. In all seriousness, you might have gotten lucky. Doesn’t look broken. Might be colorful for a while, but nothing permanent.”

He dampened another towel, and got to work wiping her face clean. The bleeding didn’t look quite done yet, but letting the blood dry wouldn’t be fun for anyone.

“I’d forgotten how much this hurts,” Lena muttered.

“What? Lena Luthor was a brawler? You’ve been holding out on me…”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Only once-- ow!” she hissed, pulling away when he got too close to her split lip. “When I was fifteen Veronica Sinclair outed my best friend at boarding school. Just-- in the middle of the meal hall, in front of everyone. Tanya had barely come out to _me_ , and she was terrified of anyone finding out, so when Veronica said… I just lost it. Next thing I knew, the teachers were pulling us apart. Veronica’s elbow caught me in the face at the last minute.”

James grinned. “And Sinclair ends up starting an underground fight club. I see how it is,” he teased.

“Now, _that_ was one you should have seen the other guy,” Lena told him. “Veronica refused to look me in the eye for the rest of the term.”

“I wish I had,” James said honestly. He dabbed the damp cloth against her chin and neck, doing his best to avoid the ice pack. “Tanya was lucky to have you. Not everyone is ready to start swinging for a friend.”

A pale shoulder lifted. “Yeah, well… It wasn’t enough.” The ice fell to her lap, and she finally lifted her head. They waited, but nothing happened. “Finally.”

Almost as soon as the word escaped her, the blood started oozing again. Lena nearly smacked herself in the face trying to catch it before drips could stain her white couch. “Owwwww…” she groaned.

“All right, ditch the ice, it’s not doing anything.”

“My face hurts.”

“Then mouth only. Keep it off your nose. It’s not helping stop the bleeding. Up.” He helped her to her feet, and cradled her head to keep her from tipping it back.

“Don’t do that either.” He grinned when Lena muttered a protest. “You want to choke? Because that’s how you choke.”

“Fine.”

He traded his towel for her ice pack, instructing her to pinch as tightly as she could. Together, they made it to the bathroom, and after Lena had hopped up to sit on the sink, and James stood between her knees to help pack her nose with tissue, Lena gently caught his hands, stilling them.

“Thank you,” she said. Her voice sounded ridiculously distorted, thanks to the cotton in her nose, and her face was still a mess, but her gaze was stunningly open as she gazed at him. “For helping. And not laughing.”

“No guarantees that won’t still happen,” James warned with a grin, “but you’re welcome. Thank you for letting me. And for not kicking me out.”

“No guarantees that won’t still happen--” she parroted back, but cut off when James kissed the least swollen corner of her mouth, dried blood and all. “Wow. That’s gross.”

“A little,” he admits, “but worth it.”

“You have to go back to CatCo?”

Trusting Eve has cleared his schedule by now, James shook his head. “How about you come home with me?” he offered. “If the packing doesn’t help, you may need a visit to the ER.”

Lena smirked. “Well, that would depend…”

“On what?”

“Will I be walking into a sea of teal? Because I’m already a little nauseous from swallowing blood--”

James pressed the ice pack back to her lips, muffling her teasing until it devolved into a laugh. The smile must have pulled painfully on her lips, but Lena didn’t seem to notice. Even bloodstained and disheveled, James couldn’t help the flutter in his stomach when their eyes met.

In that moment, he knew.

He was absolutely, totally hooked.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after 3.12 "For Good" - Rated M for sexy times.

After the explosive events at the fundraiser, it was easy for Guardian to slip away and return as James Olsen. Amid milling police officers and emergency response, he found Lena with a pair of federal agents, fielding question after question. He saw the exact moment she shut down.

“That’s all I’m willing to share at this time.”

“It really is better for us to get this information now, while it’s still fresh,” the shorter of the two agents returned, voice sharp.

Lena didn’t blink. “No one wants these arrests to stick more than I do, gentlemen,” she delivered coolly, “but given what happened the last time my mother was in custody, I won’t be speaking any further without my lawyer.”

There was no mistaking the moment Lena Luthor shifted from witness to potential co-conspirator in the agent’s eyes. He’d experienced the same moment in reverse a hundred times-- when a cop’s suspicion lifted the moment they realized exactly who James Olsen was. Lena’s lips pulled into a congenial smile.

“I’m happy to visit your field office tomorrow morning to answer any further questions.”

Whether the agents were satisfied or not made little difference-- it was clear that the conversation was over. The agents moved on-- genuine FBI, from the looks of it, not covert DEO agents-- leaving Lena to fend for herself.

“Hey,” James uttered in a low voice as he approached. The momentary slump of her shoulders lifted at the sight of him-- a deflection of her own exhaustion, rather than true happiness to see him. Instead of taking it personally, he reached out to rub her shoulder. “You okay?”

James hadn’t gotten a chance to truly confirm her wellbeing before having to escape the scene. Now concern dug its claws inside his ribs and refused to let go, even as she nodded. He stripped off his jacket and draped it across her bare shoulders. With a quiet sigh, she pulled it tighter around her.

“Thank you.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I really should have planned better for an evening event in January. Did Kara call you?”

James blinked, and then seized the excuse she unwittingly offered. “Yeah. I mean, I was on my way anyway, since I had an invite and you had the idea of putting someone on the ground. But she texted me what happened.”

Lena nodded, swallowing. “Thank you. For being here.”

“‘Course,” he murmured, looping his arm around her shoulders. She pressed herself close against him, leeching as much warmth from him as she could. “You ready to get out of here? Looks like they just cut Kara loose.”

Lena turned to see for herself, and sure enough Kara came sauntering up to join them. “Hey, you two okay?” She reached for Lena’s hand, which was bequeathed with a gentle squeeze. “You’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Lena confirmed. This time, her smile was more genuine. “Just freezing my ass off. I will never understand how you never get cold.”

Kara didn’t miss a beat. “Straps make all the difference,” she teased. “Maybe you should look into them sometime--”

“Okay, okay,” Lena cut in, fighting a laugh. James could kiss Kara for lifting the gloom. “Time to go home. Need a ride?”

Waving her off, Kara shook her head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, apparently one of these guys worked with Alex and tipped her off on my being here. She’s on her way to chew me out for being reckless.”

Lena winced. “Good luck.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m gonna tell her it was your fault.”

They parted with one last wave, and James did his best not to chuckle at the sight of Lena burrowing deeper into the heated bucket of his passenger seat. They rode in silence: not an awkward one, but one predicated by the heavy thoughts James could see spinning behind Lena’s eyes.

When he pulled up in front of her building, she didn’t move to exit. James waited, happy to give her as much time as she needed. To listen, if she needed an ear. But as the minutes passed, he risked breaking the quiet.

“Will you be okay on your own tonight?”

Lena blinked, rising to the surface of whatever storm had consumed her focus.

“I could stay, if you want,” he offered. “Or you’re welcome to come home with me…”

“No, I’ll be fine,” she responded. “Thank you though.”

She hesitated still, and James let her. He had nowhere else to be, and he couldn’t shake the anticipation of being the person she might confide in.

“I’ll probably be out of contact for next few days. They want me to finish debriefing at the field office tomorrow, and it’ll probably get more difficult before it goes away.”

James nodded. “Okay. You know I’ve got CatCo covered, and I’m sure Sam can handle L-Corp. Anything I can do to help?”

“You’re already doing it.” With a smile, Lena leaned in to kiss him. It was brief, but reassurance enough that James could feel himself on the right side of a Luthor arrest. “I’ll keep in touch.”

He watched her wear his jacket inside, getting a little bit of a kick from the fact she hadn’t offered it back. It promised another meeting and confirmed the growing intimacy between them.

* * *

 

James kept his phone on him for days, just in case she needed him. She didn’t.

But on Thursday night he received a brief text confirming her attendance at the mayor’s annual charity gala the following night. They’d received separate invitations a month ago, and the decision to attend separately had been mutual. Neither of them were ready to announce anything between them publicly, and risking an are-they/aren’t they battle among the rest of the media world didn’t appeal to either of them.

But that fact didn’t keep James’ gaze from raking the crowds for Lena as soon as he arrived. He busied himself with ordering a drink at the bar and exchanging light pleasantries with the other early arrivals. It took nearly another hour for him to spot her, alerted by a chatter of camera shutters and a rise in the conversation prompted by her arrival.

His wasn’t the only gaze she caught-- breathtaking in a dark green gown, one shoulder was left exposed, the other covered in a long sleeve. A modest train pooled and swirled around her feet as she worked her way further into the room.

James watched her shake hands with the Mayor and his wife, smiling brightly with wine colored lips. Heat bloomed in his chest at the sound of her laugh, mingling with that of their host, and only flared brighter when her eyes found him, dipping her gaze from head to toe in easy appreciation.

He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t chosen his maroon tuxedo with the express intention of earning Lena’s appreciation. With black lapels and a matching bowtie, he knew he looked good, and faint flicker of Lena’s tongue across her lips confirmed he’d hit the mark.

In the next moment, her attention was called elsewhere. Her glance moved on before he could so much as nod a greeting.

As CEO of CatCo, James had his own share of handshaking to do. An endless stream of smiles and faces followed, but as busy as he was he couldn’t hold a candle to the way Lena effortlessly worked the room. Her smile never faltered, her focus unwavering, no matter how many times he hoped to catch her eye. It wasn’t until the room started to clear towards the end of the night that he found his moment alone with her on the wide terrace outside.

Trying not to call too much attention to himself, James casually drifted towards the patio, armed with two glasses of champagne.

“I notice you haven’t had much to drink tonight,” he offered in way of explanation.

“I try to keep a clear head at events like these,” she responded, even as she accepted the flute off him. “Last thing I need is to make a promise I can’t remember the next morning because I’m hungover.”

James nodded. “How did everything go? With the statements and all.”

He expected a roll of her eyes, maybe, or a huff of frustration. Not the guilt that flashed across her features.

“They took less than a day.”

“Oh.” Okay then. She hadn’t mentioned that. Or checked in with CatCo at all. “So, you’ve just…”

“Been avoiding you? Yes. I was.”

He should be flattered by her honesty, but at the same time-- he wasn’t really feeling it. James waited.

“Speaking with my mother made me realize that I haven’t been myself since the invasion. I’ve been so afraid of making another mistake that I’ve barely let myself breathe the past six months.”

James nodded, carefully schooling his features.

“And how does that lead to you avoiding me?”

Lena came to stand beside him at the balustrade, close enough that anyone glancing over might just wonder about them. James didn’t care if they did.

“I haven’t been myself for six months, but… it’s the only version of me you know.” Dark eyebrows shrugged, even as her gaze slid away from him. “It’s the only version you like.”

“Lena…”

“I wasn’t going to come tonight. Part of me wanted to bail... end things before you could.”

Behind them, voices drifted dangerously close to the patio doors. James waited, expecting Lena to pull away. She didn’t.

When the voices passed without joining them, James reached out and took her hand. “But you came anyway.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to take the choice away from you.”

Lena looked up at him through her eyelashes. The lamps lining the balustrade cast long shadows across her features, accentuating the planes of her face. Her fingers tightened on his. “Over the past few months, there have been times when I was sure you’d turn away from me, just like everyone else. But you surprised me, again and again.”

Her lips curled into a shy smile. “I guess… I came here hoping you’d surprise me one more time.”

James leaned towards her, lifting her hand and giving it a playful wag. “Do you know what drew me to you? The thing that made me think: _I need to know more about her?”_

“You mean aside from the need to watch me like I hawk so I couldn’t ruin CatCo?”

James grinned. “Yeah, besides that.”

Lena shook her head. James held her gaze as he continued. “When you pledged your personal and corporate resources to help the rebuilding efforts, you applied those funds towards more than just restoring property.

“You invested in after school programs, youth outreach and community support centers. You provided meals, and blankets and medications. You didn’t just rebuild-- you enriched the community, and the people in it.

“I sat in on those meetings, and I saw you charge full speed towards every new project, and damn what anyone else thought about it. That was when I realized everything I thought I knew about you was wrong. And I knew had to make it right.”

Lena’s eyes slid away, dropping to gaze at their joined hands. James rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. The moment felt quiet, intimate despite the sounds of the party thrumming at the edge of the ballroom.  

“Getting to know you has been an honor, Lena Luthor,” he told her. Her gaze finally lifted back up to meet his. James met it with a smile. “I don’t know how you could possibly get any better, but… If you’re still okay with me sticking around, I’d like to find out.”

The sound of the city drifted around, the only sound as Lena blinked at him. For long moments, neither of them moved. Then Lena’s chest lifted in a deep breath, inhaling to speak.

“Lena!”

They pulled away at the Mayor’s sudden intrusion. Heavily inebriated, the Mayor didn’t seem to notice the private moment he’d stumbled into. “That gentleman on the zoning board has been spotted!” the mayor announced. “I promised to introduce you.”

Lena nodded. “Yes, thank you, Henry.” She glanced at James, clearing her throat. “Excuse me.”

“Of course.”

James watched her go, waiting for her to disappear from sight before he finished his drink and began making his way towards the exit. His job here was done. As he waited for his town car to pull up, his phone buzzed with an incoming text.

_Lena: I’d like to finish our conversation. Meet me at the Baldwin._

* * *

James arrived first. Dismissing his driver for the night, he waited just outside the lobby. Almost forty-five minutes, Lena pulled up in own towncar. He heard a muffled _good night_ to the driver, before Lena stepped out, still as gorgeous and untouched as the moment she arrived at the gala.

She paused at the sight of him, eyes softening into the smallest of smiles. They shared knowing smirks as Lena led the way inside, through the lobby and into the elevator. Their eyes met in the mirrored interior of the car as it rose. The silence only broke with the ding of the doors opening a minute later. Lena’s fingers tangled with his, leading him into the small atrium that served as the threshold of her penthouse suite.

In a matter of moments she had the door open. James followed close on her heels, heart pounding with anticipation as she tugged him inside. As soon as the door closed behind him Lena captured his lips in a searing kiss. Her hands bunched around his lapels, pressing him against the door. Her lipstick tasted waxy on his lips, sweetened by the scent of her perfume.

It took his breath away, and the world faded to nothing but hands and lips and hot breath on skin.

When James’s senses returned, his fingers were buried in Lena’s hair. His lungs burned, as though he’d just run a marathon.

“Stay,” Lena murmured against his lips.

“I was counting on it--”

She silenced him with another kiss, tugging him towards the bedroom. James followed all too willingly, His jacket landed somewhere on the floor, and Lena slipped the knot of his tie until it could slither free. His hands found the zipper hidden along her side, and slides it down with tantalizing slowness as he pressed a line of kisses down her neck.

The dress pooled around around Lena’s feet. In nothing but her garters, bra, and towering heels, she stepped out of the halo of fabric and pressed him backwards until his knees hit the bed and he dropped heavily to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Dark lips curled in a smile, and she leaned in close for another kiss. “Do you have a condom?”

James was already two knuckles deep in his pocket, fishing for his wallet. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

Straddling his lap, Lena undid each button of his shirt with agonizing slowness. Each new inch of skin was rewarded by the press of warm lips, soft and savoring. By the time she untucked the waist, his pants were uncomfortably tight-- a pressure relieved by deft fingers that made quick work of his belt and zipper.

Before she could go any lower, James leaned in, grasping her hips in both hands to do his own exploring, using lips and tongue to navigate the pale expanse of her belly and ribs. His thumbs traced small circles against the lacy fabric covering her hips. With a playful growl, James pulled them both backwards onto the bed in an awkward _fwump_ , twisting to put himself on top. Lena giggled against his lips when he fumbled at her back, searching for the clasp of her bra.

“Try the front, handsome,” came a warm suggestion, further softened by suction and hot lips against his neck.

Rock hard, James forced himself to slow down. Focusing the expanse of skin already open to him, he kissed across her collarbone and down her sternum. Only then did he reach for the little plastic clasp. It came apart with an alarming crack. James froze.

“It’s fine,” Lena murmured, cupping his chin to direct his attention back to her lips. “We’re on a roll.”

James returned to the task at hand all too willingly. He kissed her deeply, savoring the lingering traces of champagne on her breath, and the light scrape of her nails against the back of his neck. Then he worked his way down once more, to where her bra now hung open, freeing her breasts to the mercy of his lips and teeth.

Her chest pressed against his mouth, lifting her back off the mattress enough for him to slide her bra free. In moments, her panties follow suit. He pushed off briefly, earning a mewl of protest until Lena realized he was losing the last of his clothes as well. When his boxers hit the floor, James looked up to find Lena regarding him with a heavy-lidded gaze. Her approval was patently evident, and confirmed with a playful smile.

Grinning, James shook his hips, putting on another little show just for her as he sultrily unwrapped his condom and rolled it on.

“I thought tonight’s suit was my favorite look on you,” she purred, “but I think I’ve changed my mind.”

James crawled back over top of her on all fours, kissing her. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” Her eyes had darkened to a heady jade, pupils wide with desire. “What do you like?”

With a sheepish grin, James shook his head. “To be honest, if I have any fun right now I’ll be done in two minutes.” When he rubbed one thigh between her thighs, his erection pressed against her belly in silent testimony. “I was hoping for this to last a little longer than that. How about I show you some of my other tricks instead?”

A dark brow lifted. “You’re awfully confident tonight.”

“I’m told it’s well earned.”

Her lips pressed together briefly, before her teeth catch on her bottom lip in a moment of hesitation. Then she shrugged, bestowing her trust with affected nonchalance.

“I suppose I’ll have to be the judge of that.”

Thanking her with another kiss, James wormed his way down until he could settle between her legs. Hooking one of her legs over his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her hips, hugging her closer.

“How’s that?”

She repositioned her free leg, digging a heel in the mattress. “Good.”

James nodded. “You know,” he said, as conversational as though they were seated at their usual table at Noonan’s. “Watching you tonight was an honor.”

“What, shmoozing the political upper crust of National City is awe-inspiring now?” Her sarcasm hiccuped when James ran a gentle thumb over her clit. Her hips jerked, then stilled under his palm. _“Oh.”_

“I learned the hard way that it’s as much a trained skill as anything else,” James continued. “I did not have it when I first took the reins. But you-- you’re a natural.”

“Twenty years as a trained Luthor will do tha- _ah!”_ she whined James ran his tongue between her labia, dipping just inside before retreating. “ _Fingers_ ,” she huffed. “Fingers, fingers--”

James hitched his shoulder a little higher, lifting her leg into a wider stretch so he could maneuver his free arm to a better angle. He started with two fingers. They slipped inside her slick folds easily, drawing a hungry moan from his partner’s throat. “ _Yes, that_.”

“Trained monkey or not,” James continued, “you had them eating out of your hand.”

He nibbled the inside of her thigh, nipping at the tendon straining next to his cheek. Her heel dug sharply into his back, making him grin as he kissed away any residual sting. Slowly, he began to work his fingers.

Conversation fell by the wayside as James put his tongue to more carnal pursuits. She clenched and squeezed around his fingers as he gently thrust, and all the while he kept up a steady pattern of suction and stroking against her clitoris. Before long her naked chest sported a deep flush. He listened carefully for the telltale hitch in her chest as her breaths came shorter and shorter.

Gentle fingers patted his wrist as he worked, searching for his hand. He offered his free hand without breaking rhythm. She laced their fingers together, edging ever closer to her first orgasm. She felt it before he did, but instead of hurling herself forwards she squeezed his hand loose and pulled him towards her. “Together,” she grunted.

James shifted her leg down to his hand, guiding it to wrap around his hips. He slid into her with care before lowering himself down enough to capture her lips in a searing kiss. This time her lips were hungry, teeth tugging at his lip in silent encouragement to go faster.

“Still good?” he checked in regardless. A gasping _yes_ answered him. With a grunt, he jerked his hips deeper before withdrawing. Holding true to his word, James felt himself tightening in a matter of moments.

“Me too,” she murmured, the gasped sharply as he hit a sensitive spot. “Almost!”

Her hand slipped between them, working furiously on her clitoris until her eyes clenched the exact moment her walls closed around him. He tumbled over the edge half a second later.

“ _Fuck.”_

Stars exploded behind his eyes, and lingered for long moments. When he came down again, he kissed her again. “Wow,” he muttered against her lips.

Lena gazed up at him with eyes slitted in satisfaction. “I concur. Your reputation remains intact.”

James laughed breathlessly. His heart still galloped in his chest, and his arms quivered to keep from squishing her. When he watched Lena’s gaze brighten with mirth at his strain, James collapsed with a playful groan, making her squawk indignantly.

He stayed buried in her neck for a long moment before rolling off to one side. Lena followed, curling one arm under her head. When he reached for her, she gave him her hand and laced their fingers together once more so they could catch their breaths.

“Thank you for that,” she murmured. She met his gaze with hooded eyes. “I don’t usually let people do that the first night.” When James regarded her solemnly, she only shrugged. “I don’t usually trust anyone enough.”

“Well then, thank you for trusting me,” James returned in a low voice. He kissed the tops of her fingers, and earned a small squeeze in response. “Because I enjoyed that.”

“Up for another round?” Her lips curled into a cheshire grin.

James’ brows lifted in affirmation. “You?”

“You don’t even want to know my personal record.”

James rolled back towards her, sliding a palm under her buttocks and gave it squeeze. “Not tonight,” he agreed. He didn’t bring enough condoms for that. “But I’ll be very interested in helping you set a new one.”

“Challenge accepted.” In a blink, Lena flipped them until she straddled his waist. “My turn on top.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set immediately following 3x14 "Schott Through the Heart".
> 
> Content/trigger warning for heavy grief/grieving.

When James asked her to meet him for drinks, Lena nearly refused.

Phone held loosely in careless fingers, Lena swirled her glass, and stared at the amber liquid spinning within.

“James, I’m sorry,” she said slowly. Deliberately. “I’m tired.”

It wasn’t the drinking that filled her with dread. It was the thought of going out-- today of all days-- and pasting a smile on her face and pretending everything was fine. The very idea exhausted her.

“I know, you must be exhausted,” James agreed. His voice sounded flat on the other end of the line, but Lena couldn’t tell if it was actually him that sounded like that, or her own ears unable to register inflection. “But, Winn’s having a hard time, and you’re one of his favorite people--”

“We’ve barely met--”

“Which means you’re shiny and new. A distraction. With the rest of us, he’d feel pressured to talk it out, which he probably isn’t ready for.”

Lena swallowed a gulp of her scotch. Its burn down her throt barely registered. She stared out the window, as though to consider her options, or even her response, but somehow losing track of both until James continued.

“Please, Lena. He really enjoys your company, and it might be just what he needs to shake look.”

It was the please that pitched Lena over the edge into acquiescence. “Fine.”

“And I’ll come join you as soon as I wrap things up here at CatCo, it shouldn’t take more than an hour--”

“I said fine, James. No need to keep going.”

The line fell silent, but the time elapsed continued to slowly tick onwards. Lena watched them go, pale numbers blurring as unblinking eyes went dry.

“Okay,” James said finally, clearing his throat. Only now did he seem to notice she wasn’t herself, but his voice conveyed hurt rather than concern. “Thank you. I’ll, um-- I’ll tell him to meet us at the Baldwin. That way you don’t have to travel far--”

“Okay,” Lena responded. “Anything else?”

Digital numbers continued to roll, measuring the call in fractions of seconds as silence stretched.

“No,” came the reply. “Lena, I--”

Her finger tapped the red button. The touch was so light it felt almost by accident, but there was no guilt when the numbers stopped turning, no remorse when the screen reverted to James’ contact details. Lena sipped at her scotch for another ten minutes, wasting time until she finally rose and climbed back into yesterday’s clothes.

She walked into the restaurant bar to find Winn already slouching at the counter, ordering a drink without lifting his gaze from the lacquered wood. Lena sat on the stool next to him, nodding wordlessly when the bartender guessed her usual.

She didn’t greet Winn. She didn’t say a word as a drink slid in front of her. The quiet lasted barely a minute before he spoke, voice clicking with annoyance.

“You’re not going to ask?”

Lena brought her glass to her lips. “Nope.”

Winn turned, his eyes raking her up and down. Lena couldn’t tell if he saw her minimalist makeup or the wrinkles in her skirt. She didn’t care if he did.

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed. Bitterness scratched at his voice, itching for a fight. Lena kept her eyes forward, disinclined to oblige him the opportunity. That only seemed to make him angrier.

“Look, I don’t need a babysitter, so you should just go.” He turned back to his drink. When Lena made no move to leave, Winn rounded on her once more. “I said--”

“No.”

“I don’t need you!” He slammed his glass down, whiskey sloshing over the rim of his glass. “And clearly you’d rather be anywhere else, so-- why are you even here?!”

“Because I told James I would be.”

Lena didn’t look as Winn’s jaw clicked shut. The air that squeezed from him was audible when he turned forward. The vacuum left in its wake felt familiar.

“He thinks I’m gonna lose it,” Winn confessed bitterly. “That after watching my mom leave the first time, finding out my dad is a deranged psychopath, and mom not coming back for another fifteen years, he thinks that my mom returning to her life on the other side of the country is going to be what finally makes me crack.”

Plucking a peanut from the communal bowl, Winn tossed it into his mouth and chomped viciously.

“It’s insulting.”

Lena blinked. Her skin prickled under the angry heat of his glare, and tried to muster the curiosity to wonder what his mother has to do with anything at all. She blinked again, staring into her glass.

“You really don’t care, do you.”

Lena took a long swallow, inhaling as the drink filled her chest with hollow warmth.

“No.”

With a nod, Winn turned away. “Good. I didn’t want to talk about it anyway.”

The relief in his voice almost surprised her in its honesty. Nothing more followed. They drank in silence until James arrived.

“Hey, I’m here,” he announced breathlessly. “Sorry it took so… long.”

Lena rose as James stripped off his jacket, wordlessly leaving a couple of bills on the bar. She moved to leave without making eye contact. She only paused when his fingers brushed the inside of her wrist.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I’ll call you later?”

Lena pulled her hand free. “Not tonight.”

Before she could escape, Winn called to her. “Lena.”

Lena turned, and met his gaze for the first time that evening.

He held her gaze, and blinked. “Thanks.”

This time, Lena managed a nod, before departing quickly from the bar. She returned to her empty suite, illuminated by the lone lamp she’d bothered to turn on and forgot to turn off. She returned to her scotch and her solitude. When she closed her eyes, she felt like nothing at all.

* * *

James took Lena’s seat next to Winn, trying his best not to read too much into Lena’s quiet departure. Winn didn’t acknowledge him or his distraction, and James was okay with that. He wasn’t there to talk-- he was there to be what Winn needed him to be, and if that was a silent drinking companion, James would be that.

But it wasn’t long until Winn disallowed even that much.

“I’m not the person you need to be with tonight,” Winn muttered, barely ten minutes later.

“What do you mean?”

“Lena.”

James waved it off. “She’s just tired--”

“Nuh-uh,” Winn contradicted. “No. Because _that--_ ” he pointed in the direction Lena had vanished, “was like looking into a goddamn mirror.”

Heavy realization sent James’ heart sinking to the bottom of his ribs. He’d heard something off in her voice over the phone, and too busy to dig deeper, he’d chalked it up to inconvenience. Exhaustion.

Winn’s observation put the heaviness of Lena’s voice in far darker territory.

“Lena is not okay.”

One google search later James found himself outside Lena’s door with his heart heavy in his chest. His fist, raised to knock, felt even heavier. He shouldn’t have pushed when he heard Lena’s reluctance on the phone, and it felt like he was pushing again, but leaving felt like the wrong thing too.

With a deep breath, James rapped against the door.

Then he knocked again, when the first went unanswered. Finally, the door slowly opened, revealing the solemn, inexpressive features of one Lena Luthor.

Green eyes regarded him dully, but James couldn’t tell if they actually saw him.

She waited.

James fished for something to say. Something soft. Something comforting. What emerged was chagrin.

“It’s Lex’s birthday.”

Somehow, Lena’s eyes darkened even further. She didn’t say anything.

“Lena, I’m so sorry, I should have realized--”

“What do you want?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t unkind. Neither was it impatient, or hesitant or hopeful. It was barely anything at all.

James swallowed. “I just-- I came to be here with you. You don’t have to be alone. You _aren’t_ alone.”

When Lena’s decision came a long moment later, she kept it to herself. When she moved it wasn’t towards him or the comfort he offered, but rather to the couch lurking deep in her apartment, lit by a single lamp. The door stayed open, and James slipped inside.

His eyes adjusted quickly to the shadows, and he watched Lena resume her seat on the couch, pulling a cushion into her lap and curling around it. She didn’t look at him as he moved to join her, didn’t even blink when he scooted as close as he thought she’d allow.

James didn’t know what to say. A dozen thoughts ran through his mind, considered and quickly dismissed as too condescending, too hollow, too disingenuous. Lena remained disinclined to help him out, her gaze askance and unfocused as she stared into the middle distance.

Belatedly, James realized nothing he said would matter. Lena wouldn’t hear it.

“I’m here,” was all he offered, his voice low and gentle, “if you want to talk.”

Green eyes blinked, swiveling slowly towards him before turning back front. Lena said nothing.

James turned his gaze forward as well, taking in the view beyond the tall windows. He folded his hands in his lap and leaned into the cushions behind him, and settled in.

* * *

Some time later, Lena opened her eyes and recognized the space around her immediately. Light spilled in through tall windows, softened by gauzy curtains and illuminating a familiar, tall frame.

She smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey, ace.”

Lex straightened, becoming a silhouette against the light. “Welcome to the land of the living.”

Lena stretched with a groan, rolling her eyes. “Not my fault you took the long way home from Brussels.” Rolling herself upright, she grinned. “Happy birthday.”

Lex’s face scrunched into a toothy grin. “C’mere.”

Lena launched into his outstretched arms. Lex caught her with a laugh and a squeeze she felt all the way down to her bones.

The smell of Lex’s aftershave filled her senses, his shirt crisp and clean under her fingers. He was warm and solid, and _real_. Lena closed her eyes tight.

“I’ve missed you,” she murmured. She hugged him tighter. “So much.”

“Whoa, hey.” Lex released her with a squeeze, pulling back just enough to meet her eye. “What’s all that about? Everything’s fine. I promise.”

He brushed the hair from her eyes, and gently cupped her cheeks in both palms. Tears spilled from Lena’s eyes when she blinked, and her throat locked tight.

“How long do you have?” she asked.

“As long as you want me.” His hands fell to her shoulders. Lena felt every fingertip, every callus that rasped against the fabric of her blouse. His gaze smiled into hers.

“I’m so proud of you, Lena--”

Lena blinked, waking with a gasp. Mid-afternoon sun snapped to night; Lena blinked rapidly until the dark lines of her apartment came into focus. Only then did she register the thundering of her heart, the tremor in her hands as she lurched away from the couch and its remaining occupant, stumbling towards the bathroom.

Running her hands under the shock of cold water did nothing to steady them. They blurred in her vision-- when she looked into the mirror and her own tear-filled eyes.

With a shuddering gasp, Lena staggered away from the sink until her back hit the wall. She slid to the floor on shaking legs and pulled her knees tight to her chest.

An invisible band twisted around her chest, squeezing the breath from her lungs until she could barely breathe. She wiped her eyes, but the tears kept coming. They kept coming and coming and coming, even when the door pushed open.

James turned off the faucet, before sitting on the floor beside her. Lena turned her head away, hiding her tears against the tops of her knees. For a long moment, he didn’t say anything. When he finally did, his voice was as gentle as she’d ever heard it.

“Bad dream?”

Lena almost nodded, but her head shook no of its own volition. A fresh wave of tears blurred her vision and shook free, spilling down her cheeks and dripping onto the fabric of pajama bottoms, stretched tight over her kneecaps.

“No,” she croaked. She shook her head again, dislodging more tears. “No, it-- It was a good dream.”

She gasped, sharp and ragged. Her lips pulled down, edging into a sob before she scrubbed her hand over her face.

“It was a really good dream.”

James leaned back. His gaze didn’t leave her. She felt the weight of it even through the oppressive pressure of her heartache.

“Lex?”

There wasn’t any judgement in the question, and Lena found herself nodding.

“He was there, and he-- it was _him._ It was so real. _He_ was real. I felt his hands, his-- I could, I could _smell_ him!”

James didn’t say anything. Part of her-- the part of her not clinging to the memory so fresh in her mind-- expected James understood. He’d lost his father, and probably had dreams of his own. Dreams better earned, dreams justified by death and honorable loss.

But James didn’t confirm it. He didn’t chide her, didn’t remind her that Lex wasn’t dead-- that her brother was alive and well when his actions killed so many, and spawned countless nightmares for the survivors of his victims.

Instead, he took her hand in his. Lena almost pulled away, instinctively resisting the tug she was sure would follow-- but never did.

In the space James’ silence offered, Lena found room to utter the truth that pressed so relentlessly on her chest.

_“I miss him.”_

Fingers tangled together, James sat with her as she cried.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set somewhere around 3x15 - 3x16, when Lena is trying her best to dodge James and Sam is revealed to be Reign.

“Talk to me.”

Lena looked towards the flat voice that carried over the hum of the invisible barrier trapping Sam inside the containment unit. Her sat on the bed, legs hugged to her chest with her cheek pressed to the tops of her knees. She looked small, and devoid of hope.

“I don’t think you want me giving you a play by play of all the science that isn’t working yet,” Lena sighed. She was hopeful, but right now it still felt like she was shooting in the dark. The urgency weighed heavily, and while the silence hung like a lead curtain over both of them, Lena knew the truth of her frustration would be worse.

But Sam shook her head. “Not about this. Anything but this.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Just… something to distract me that I’m locked in a cell in your basement with a mass murderer. Who is also me.”

It wasn’t Sam. Sam was as much a victim as those men on the beach. A life caught as collateral in Reign’s war on injustice. 

Lena pushed her keyboard away, struggling to force her mind to change tracks. When she pinched the bridge of her nose, a familiar face jumped to her thoughts. She smiled. “James brought me dinner.”

Clearly, Sam wasn’t prepared for Lena to oblige so quickly. She blinked several times before the words seem to register. “Oh?”

“I haven’t made much time for him, recently. Between Lex, and all this--”

Sam’s head lifted sharply. “Lex? Wait, did he do something? Or--” Realization hit with a gasp. “Oh my god, his birthday! Lena, I’m so sorry--”

_ “Sam.” _

The apologies stopped in an instant, but the tears continued to well in Sam’s eyes. 

“You’ve had an alien consciousness squatting in your brain and sporadically stealing time from you, okay? I wouldn’t expect you to keep track of Lex’s birthday even in the best of times.”

Sniffling, Sam nodded. Her throat clicked when she swallowed. “What’d he bring?”

“Bad Chinese. But it wasn’t the food so much as...”

“He showed up.”

Lena nodded. “He showed up on Lex’s birthday too.”

_ Did I overstep? _ James had asked the night before, over the last few bites of their egg rolls. He’d posed the question so gently that Lena could still hear it in the depths of her soul. 

_ No, _ she’d assured him.  _ No, you didn’t _ . 

But she had. Lena hadn’t had the words to explain that while the crisis that had kept her busy-- kept her distant-- was very real, it was also a convenient one. That the knowledge James had seen her so low and so vulnerable scared her. That shame would have made her pull away even if Sam had been in perfect health.

And yet James had found a way to reel her back in, by doing nothing at all.

_ I can’t imagine what it must be like for you, Lena. Losing anyone is hard, but losing someone the way you did… _ When he looked at her, Lena had seen empathy unlike any she’d seen before. Except maybe Kara. 

_ I’m not asking to know your secrets.  _ The gentle words had come with that smile that turned her insides to butter.  _ And I’m not pretending I’ll always know how to help you. But I want to. Even if it’s just to prop you up when you feel like the world’s caving in. _

“He’s good for you,” Sam observed, a small smile curling her lips despite her circumstances. 

Lena blinked, then rolled her eyes sheepishly as she leaned against her worktable. “Yeah, he might be.”

James had a way of putting her at ease, and despite her best efforts to keep him at arm’s length, to keep him where she could carefully control how much he saw… he continued to slip closer and closer, as though there was a space next to her shaped just for him.

“It’s about time,” Sam drawled. “Just wait til Ruby hears that her Aunt Lena…”

The mention of her daughter killed the lightening mood in an instant. Sam’s eyes filled with tears, and her breath caught in her throat. She stared at her knees, and Lena stood uncomfortably as the silence stretched.

“It feels like I’m never going to see her again.”

“Sam… we’ve only just gotten started.” Lena offered a calm smile “Give me a bit more time before you throw hope out the window, okay?”

“What if we don’t have time?”

Lena’s gaze sharpened. “You can’t think like that--”

“I can’t explain it, Lena, but… it feels like-- like something’s coming. Something big. Something bad.”

Lena smirked. “I’d like to think that’s Reign realizing her time is running out.”

Sam didn’t respond to the half-hearted attempt at humor. Lena gazed at her, unsure of what else to say but reluctant to return to her desk. Her gaze turned to the photo she’d placed on the desk inside the containment cell-- Sam and Ruby, faces crinkled with laughter. Lena had snapped the photo herself, during her last visit to Metropolis before hiring Sam. 

They’d spent the afternoon in the park, and Sam had remarked how well her time in National City had suited her. Apparently she’d smiled more that weekend than her last three years in Metropolis combined. It felt as though she’d smiled even more since Sam and Ruby had joined her here in National City, but as the reality of their surroundings sank in, that mirth felt as far away as Metropolis.

“Promise me you’ll take care of her.”

Sam’s gaze had followed Lena’s to the framed picture, and her features darkened with solemn intent. Lena swallowed. “She’s perfectly safe.”

“And that you’ll take care of me.”

Ice flooded Lena’s veins at the tone of Sam’s voice. She didn’t mean finding a cure. She meant effecting a solution. Permanently.

“Promise me, Lena. If it comes down to me or Ruby, you choose Ruby.”

Lena’s jaw tightened. “It won’t come to that.”

“It might.” Sam’s throat clicked audibly as she swallowed. “I know what I’m asking of you. And I’m asking because know what your answer will be.”

“You sound very sure of yourself.”

“That night we first met, you saw someone who was dedicated, and resourceful.” Sam climbed off the bed, striding towards the barrier until they were almost nose to nose. Lena locked her knees to keep from taking a step back. “I saw someone who didn’t back down from a challenge. I saw someone who doesn’t blink. That was the night I learned the rumors were true: that Lena Luthor does what needs to be done.”

Sam had it wrong, earlier. You call a doctor when you have cancer, you call a surgeon to cut you open. But you don’t call a Luthor to hunt a supervillain. 

You call a Luthor when you need a death.

“Lena…”

“I should get back to work.”

Lena’s guilt ratcheted up with each click of her heels against the stone floor. She sat on her stool, and stared sightlessly at her computer screen as a single thought grew heavier in Lena’s mind, dark and intrusive...

She hadn’t even tried to refuse.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set somewhere around "Of Two Minds"/"Trinity", after the reveal on the balcony.

James had to go looking for Winn, after days of radio silence. The dodged texts felt just like the evasion he’d just overcome with Lena, and James wanted to groan at having to jump the same hurdle with the one person who was supposed to be _easy_. He finally caught up with Winn at the DEO, to find his friend planted in his usual seat, as though completely unaware that he’d missed two of their scheduled check ins.

“Hey, man,” James greeted.

Winn glanced up at him, then back at his computer. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

Oh yeah. Something was definitely off.

“What’s, ah-- what’s going on?”

A plaid shoulder lifted in nonchalance. “Whaddya mean? I’ve just been here, doin’ my job. Like usual. Just normal, run-of-the-mill DEO business--”

“Winn-- dude. Don’t pretend you haven’t been ignoring me, okay? I've just gone through the same thing with Lena--” Interrupted by Winn’s scoff, James gritted his teeth. “Sparring room. Now.”

Technically, James didn’t hold any authority at the DEO. He was a consultant on good days and an interloper on bad ones, but Winn obeyed regardless. He stalked out of the command center with a dark cloud hovering over his head, leaving James to swiftly bring up the rear. As soon as the door closed behind them, Winn rounded on him.

“You lied to me.”

Ah. Okay.

“We should never have been there in the first place--”

“Not our call, dude! Not our call.” Winn glared, gesturing between them. “You agreed to the gig. I agreed to the gig. We  _ both agreed _ . And you lied to my face!” He paused. “Well, not to my face, exactly, because I was on the Legion ship and you were-- You know what I mean! You lied through your teeth.”

“What we were doing was wrong…”

“Then you back out! But you tell me you’re backing out! So we can back out as a team! You don’t tell me my tech works when it never even left your pocket. And you give me a heads up before you decide to tell your brand new girlfriend that you almost broke into her super secret vault as National City's most notorious vigilante.”

James’ jaw hardened. “Don’t bring Lena into this. This wasn’t her fault.”

“First of all, Lena brought herself into this when she decided to start messing around with Kryptonite. And second of all--” Winn paused, fishing. “I don’t actually have a second of all. But the point is, it’s starting to feel like you’ve got a new partner, and it sure as hell isn’t me.”

“Come on, man.”

“No,  _ you  _ come on! We’ve been bros longer than you even  _ liked  _ Lena, but suddenly you’re lying to me, and spilling your guts to her! Maybe I should just give her the keys to the van now and get it over with!”

Winn’s shout echoed in the concrete room, hammering James from every direction. He was overreacting, he was making a big deal out of nothing-- but he wasn’t wrong. They’d been going out less as the Worldkiller threat drove the less savory of National City’s characters underground. He’d spent so much time lately trying to prove to Lena he could be there for her… he’d neglected the other important figure in his life.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry,” Winn parroted, disbelief plain. 

James nodded. “Yeah. I am. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I decided not to touch Lena’s vault, and I acted on instinct. But I should have come to you after, especially once I came clean to Lena. Revealing myself as Guardian exposes you too. You deserved to hear it from me. I'm sorry.”

Silence followed his confession. James took it as a good sign when Winn’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly as Winn fished for a new argument. The moment Winn deflated, James knew they were good.

“Lena knows I work with Guardian?” he asked, edging back towards aloof. This time, it sounded like Winn.

James hid a smile. “I didn’t exactly spell it out, but Lena’s smart. If she hasn’t put it together yet, she will.”

Winn nodded. “Okay, okay okay okay… cool. That... is... cooooool--”

He continued to nod, folding his arms across his chest in feigned nonchalance.

“Did she say anything about the suit?”


End file.
